The Corruption Destroying Americans’ Trust in SCOTUS

Our nation’s highest court should not have the lowest ethical standards. Yet, even as the Supreme Court waits to rule on consequential cases that will decide the future of reproductive and voting rights, the court is facing a full-blown legitimacy crisis thanks to the corruption of three of its conservative justices.

This spring, ProPublica revealed decades-worth of undisclosed luxury travel and gifts from billionaire Republican mega-donor, Harlan Crow, to Justice Clarence Thomas — including a $500,000 vacation in Indonesia and a $19,000 Bible owned by Frederick Douglass. Accountable.US recently released a full timeline tracking how Clarence and his wife, Ginni Thomas, benefited from their coziness with Crow over decades.

Although Thomas claimed the gifts were “above board,” additional reporting made it clear Crow’s financial interests as a real estate owner, landlord, and developer have come before Justice Thomas during his time on the court. 

It wasn’t long before another SCOTUS scandal made the headlines. Politico reported Justice Neil Gorsuch sold his $1.8 million dollar property to the current CEO of a major law firm, Greenberg Traurig – which has since been active in at least twenty-two cases sent to the high court.

The third scandalous strike on SCOTUS came from Chief Justice John Roberts himself. Whistleblower documents revealed that Robert’s wife, Jane Roberts, made $10.3 million in commissions from elite law firms. At least one firm argued a case before Roberts after paying his wife hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

Still, even in the aftermath of the allegations against him and his conservative colleagues, Justice Roberts continued to dodge responsibility by refusing an invitation to testify from Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin – underscoring the need for urgent reform.

That’s why Accountable.US sent a mobile billboard campaign to the streets around the Supreme Court and Roberts’ lavish local country club to demand he answer for the corruption plaguing our highest court.

Even with the notable absence of Chief Justice Roberts, the Senate Judiciary Committee still held a hearing to demand that the Supreme Court implement immediate ethics code reform to restore integrity in the court.

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans like Sen. Grassley have still refused to take action, instead using the hearing as an opportunity for political grandstanding and performative outrage.

Without immediate reform to restore credibility to our Court, public trust in one of our core American institutions will continue to plummet. 

Follow Accountable.US on Twitter as we continue to call for action from Chief Justice Roberts and Senate Republicans.