Press Releases, Supreme Court
Accountable.US Statement on Supreme Court Decision in FCC v. Consumers’ Research

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Supreme Court ruled against an effort backed by corporate special interests to resurrect the long-defunct nondelegation doctrine, thereby undermining consumer protections and opening the door to a rollback of environmental protections. The decision comes as Accountable.US research, recently revealed a close personal and professional relationship between Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito and Leonard Leo, a significant financial backer and advisor to Consumers’ Research, who originally brought the case. Given their conflicts of interest and the appearance of impropriety, Accountable.US previously called on Justice Thomas and Alito to recuse themselves in this case. In response to today’s ruling in FCC v. Consumers’ Research, Accountable.US President Caroline Ciccone released the following statement:
“Today, regular Americans won and corporate special interests lost, as their efforts to chip away at consumer safeguards and environmental protections were rejected. But let’s be clear: this case should never have gotten to this point. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito both hold deep ties to Leonard Leo, the primary backer of Consumers’ Research, who advanced this case. But despite their conflicts of interest, both refused to recuse themselves, once again casting a shadow of doubt on their ability to rule impartially. It’s no wonder public trust in the Supreme Court continues to plummet. There’s only one way to fix it: the Supreme Court must immediately adopt an obligatory, enforceable code of conduct that cleans up the impropriety that’s existed on the court for years.”
In case you missed it: read Accountable.US President Caroline Ciccone’s op-ed on how the Supreme Court should adopt the recusal standard set by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who voluntarily recused herself from Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond this term, because she had close ties to the activist advancing the case.
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