Oops: They're doing it again: Another Supreme Court Justice flouts ethical standards

Alito speaks at Federalist Society fundraiser, following in ethically-challenged footsteps of Scalia and Thomas

AFJ and Common Cause released this statement today:

WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 16 - For the second year in a row, a justice of the Supreme Court has flouted judicial ethics by headlining a fundraising gala for a lawyers group, the Alliance for Justice and Common Cause said Friday.

From the Federalist Society website

Justice Samuel Alito was a featured speaker at the "30th Anniversary Gala Dinner" of the Federalist Society on Thursday night.  Alito’s appearance was the drawing card for the $175-dollar-a-plate event, the society’s website indicates.

Were Justice Alito sitting on any lower federal court, his appearance would violate Canon 4C of the Code of Conduct for federal judges.  That canon explicitly bans federal judges from being featured speakers and guests of honor at fundraising events. The code does not formally apply to the Supreme Court however.

Last year, Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia spoke at the same Federalist Society fundraising event.  The annual dinners attract a crowd of more than 1,200 lobbyists, judges and lawyers, including some with high-profile cases before the court. Attendees at Thursday’s dinner, for example, included at least three lawyers involved in cases challenging the constitutionality of the federal Voting Rights Act. Their Washington-based firm, Wiley Rein LLP, was a “silver” sponsor.

Justice Alito has become a regular at such functions, having previously spoken at fundraising events for the American Spectator magazine and the Intercollegiate Studies Institute.  The Institute describes itself as working for "limited government, individual liberty, personal responsibility, the rule of law, market economy and moral norms."

Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron noted that a 2012 Hart Research Associates poll conducted for AFJ found that only 41% of Americans approve of the job the Supreme Court is doing.  "If the public begins to believe that the justices are just politicians in robes, their credibility will further erode."

"In his 2011 Annual Report, Chief Justice John Roberts claimed that 'All members of the Court do in fact consult the Code of Conduct in assessing their ethical obligations,'" Aron said. "But it is clear that they are free to routinely ignore that guidance.  That’s why guidance is not enough.  Either the justices should formally agree to abide by the Code or Congress should require it."

"The words 'Equal Justice Under Law,' are carved into the marble above the entrance to the Supreme Court," said Common Cause President Bob Edgar, "but it’s clear that when it comes to judicial ethics, some members of the court consider themselves better than equal to the rest of the federal judiciary. Their refusal to embrace and abide by the Code of Conduct is disturbing."

Edgar and Aron emphasized that addressing an organization like the Federalist Society is not, in itself, a breach of ethics.  The ethical line is crossed when the justice’s appearance is used to raise money for the organization.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

From AFJ:

• AFJ Video: A Question of Integrity and background material about ethics issues and the Code of Conduct

• Analysis of the ethical issues involved in Justices Scalia and Thomas speaking at a Federalist Society fundraiser from Prof. Stephen Gillers of New York University School of Law

From Common Cause:

• Our highest court shouldn’t be held to the lowest standard.
• Hours after considering challenges to health care reform, Supreme Court justices are honored at fundraiser sponsored by law firms representing reform opponents.

AFJ releases “Unequal Justice: The Relentless Rise of the 1% Court"

In a series of 5 to 4 rulings, a majority on the United States Supreme Court effectively has rewritten the law to favor big business at the expense of the American people, according to a new documentary.  Unequal Justice: The Relentless Rise of the 1% Court, produced by Alliance for Justice (AFJ), was released online Monday.

“Today, as the Supreme Court begins a new term, the court will be ‘open for business,” said AFJ President Nan Aron.  “The term is already packed with cases with the potential to restrict corporate accountability and limit everyday Americans’ civil rights and access to justice  The Court’s decisions this term could have harmful consequences for the ability of consumers, victims of discrimination, and others to get a fair day in court. 

“But no one should be surprised,” Aron said.  “What we are likely to see in the term that begins today was decades in the making.”

Unequal Justice chronicles a 40-year campaign by corporate special interests to put the thumb of big business on the scales of justice.  The campaign has its origins in a profoundly-influential memo written in 1971 by corporate lawyer Lewis Powell, just months before he himself was named to the court by President Richard Nixon.  The memo urged the business community to fight what was then a burgeoning consumer and environmental movement.

“There has been much attention in recent months to the way the executive and the legislative branches stacked   the deck in favor of ‘the one percent’ and against the rest of us,” Aron said.  “But there’s been far too little attention paid to the success of big business in influencing the Supreme Court.  With a presidential election just weeks away, it’s time to pay attention to the decisions a president makes that often have the most lasting consequences – his nominees who will be appointed to the nation’s highest court.”

Said Aron: “We produced this video because we want to highlight the importance of the Supreme Court in the lives of everyday Americans and to spur a renewed sense of activism to hold the Court accountable for its actions.”
 

To learn more about the issues discussed in Unequal Justice and to find out about hosting  a screening, go to www.unequaljustice.org  And read AFJ President Nan Aron’s call to action in The Nation.

Could this Supreme Court term be The One Percent Court on steroids?

The United States Supreme Court term that starts Monday is packed with cases with the potential to restrict corporate accountability and limit everyday Americans’ civil rights and access to justice.  According to a report released today by the Alliance for Justice “the majority on the court is likely to live down to its full potential,” says AFJ President Nan Aron.

“With polling showing the public increasingly fearful that corporations are receiving favorable treatment, the Court risks drifting further from the American mainstream and jeopardizing the legitimacy of its decisions,” Aron said.

The report, available here, comes on the same day AFJ previews its documentary Unequal Justice: The Relentless Rise of the 1% Court, at American University’s Washington College of Law.  The screening, at noon today, will be followed by a panel discussion.

“The documentary describes a 40-year campaign by big business to put its thumb on the scales of justice,” Aron said.  “AFJ’s Supreme Court Preview documents how the campaign may reach its zenith in the term that starts Monday.

"Decisions this term could harm the ability of consumers, victims of discrimination, victims of human rights abuses and many others to stand up for their rights in court,” Aron said.  “This could be The One Percent Court on steroids.”

● AFJ’s Supreme Court Preview.

● Information about AFJ’s First Monday Film: Unequal Justice:The Relentless Rise of the 1% Court.

● Information about today’s screening and panel discussion.

● AFJ Supreme Court poll results.

AFJ President Nan Aron on The 1 Percent Court - and what we can do about it

We all know how big business has eroded the American dream by getting Congress and the executive branch to change the rules to favor corporations and the wealthy at the expense of the rest of us.  But it hasn’t stopped with two branches of government.  Corporate special interests have spent decades working to put their thumb on the scales of justice.  The campaign finance decision in Citizens United is only the most prominent example.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.  In a special issue of The Nation, produced in cooperation with the Alliance for Justice, AFJ President Nan Aron writes about what big business has done to the cherished American value of equal justice under law and, most important, what we can do about it:

"Liberals who came of age in the 1960s and ’70s perceived the Supreme Court largely as a constructive force, devoted to protecting civil, environmental and consumer rights and liberties, and interpreting the Constitution as a living document relevant to a rapidly changing twentieth-century world. It was a Court worthy of respect, if not reverence.

That was then. The 1 Percent Court is now in session."

Nan's full article is available here.

More from this special issue of The Nation is available here.

Happy 30th Birthday Alliance for Justice!

Hundreds of supporters gathered today to celebrate 30 years in which Alliance for Justice has been leading the fight for a more equitable society on behalf of a broad constituency of environmental, consumer, civil and women’s rights, children’s, senior citizens’ and other groups.

The Vision for Justice luncheon featured keynote speakers Dahlia Lithwick, Senior Editor and Legal Correspondent for Slate, and Gara LaMarche, President and CEO of The Atlantic Philanthropies. Elmy Bermejo, Director of the Latino Issues Forum, was Master of Ceremonies, and of course, Nan Aron, President and Founder of Alliance for Justice gave remarks.

Dahlia Lithwick’s speech looked at President Obama’s use of “empathy” as a qualification for judicial nominees. She defended the term and asked progressives to see it not as something that looks soft and squishy, the opposite of rigor and objectivism. We should embrace the term since it does not mean bias, it does not mean sympathy, it simply means being able to "stand in somebody else's shoes and see through their eyes." We recommend her excellent column on this topic in Slate.

Gara LaMarche spoke eloquently about the situation of our courts in this country and encouraged all of us to help “the arc of the moral universe bend towards justice” by fighting every day against injustice.

Click here to watch AFJ's 30th anniversary video presentation.

If you’d like to say Happy Birthday to AFJ, click here.

Mainers Urge Senators to Support Vote on Johnsen

This morning, the Maine Women’s Lobby delivered a petition signed by Mainers to the Augusta offices of Senators Snowe and Collins. The petition signers urge their senators to support a prompt vote on President Obama's nomination of Dawn Johnsen to head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel.

The petitions were signed by members and supporters of Alliance for Justice, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Planned Parenthood, People for the American Way, the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, CREDO, and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

Prof. Johnsen is eminently qualified to serve in this position. But her nomination is being held hostage by a threatened filibuster by Senate Republicans to further their partisan political agenda. Some of those who oppose her appointment also seem to have a problem with female nominees. Despite her experience that directly qualifies her for this job, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said he does not think she has the "seriousness" to take on this responsibility.

Instead of further delay, the Senate should hold a vote and get back to other priority issues such as the economy, health care, and education.

Read more about Prof. Johnsen’s nomination.
Send a letter to your Senators supporting a prompt vote on the nomination.