Political Quotes

“on the Supreme Court, yesterday, for the first time, the U.S. Supreme Court announced the adoption of an ethical code of conduct for Justices. At a time when Americans' trust in the High Court is deeply, deeply shaken, the Supreme Court has taken an important step to lay down basic rules of the road for our Justices. Frankly, this should have happened a long time ago. Lower courts have long been required to embrace an ethical code of conduct, and there is no reason that the Supreme Court should not have done the same. Now, while the Supreme Court's announcement was important, its lack of enforceability is a glaring omission. Justices, it seems, are left to their own devices in applying this code to themselves. Frankly, Americans could be excused if they are skeptical after everything they have read in the paper about Justices accepting lavish gifts and vacationing with ultrarich ideologues, some of whom bring cases before the Court. Sheldon Whitehouse said it well. He said: It is as if they are agreeing to the rules of baseball but no umpires. So, while the Justices' code of conduct is a necessary and important step, it cannot be the final word. The public's trust in our courts is a key feature of our democratic society, and there is a lot of work left to do before that trust is fully restored. Congress must--must-- continue its efforts to hold the judiciary accountable. ____________________”