Situational Ethics

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court would have to abide by stronger ethics standards under legislation approved on Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee, a response to recent revelations about donor-funded trips by justices. The bill faced united opposition from Republicans, who said it could “destroy” the court.

The panel voted along party lines to set ethics rules for the court and a process to enforce them, including new standards for transparency around recusals, gifts and potential conflicts of interest. 

[…]

The ethics legislation has little chance of passing the Senate — it would need at least nine GOP votes, and Republicans have strongly opposed it — or the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. But Democrats say the spate of revelations means that enforceable standards on the court are necessary.

[…]

The legislation would mandate a new Supreme Court “code of conduct” with a process for adjudicating the policy modeled on lower courts that do have ethics codes. It would require that justices provide more information about potential conflicts of interest, allow impartial panels of judges to review justices’ decisions not to recuse and require public, written explanations about their decisions not to recuse. It would also seek to improve transparency around gifts received by justices and set up a process to investigate and enforce violations around required disclosures.

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34 thoughts on “Situational Ethics”

  1. Says a lot that Republicans think a Code of Ethics would destroy the conservative Supreme Court. It’s a comment on Republican inability to conform to a Code of Ethics rather than a comment on the proposed Code. 

  2. Situational Ethics indeed. As the GOP relies on hearsay from fugitive criminals to hogtie the president to their imaginary bribery scheme, they won’t even consider some common sense rules for justices. “The ethics legislation has little chance of passing the Senate — it would need at least nine GOP votes.”

  3. from the bennett sublime to the thug trumpster stupid

    today on morning joe

    When asked about the possibility of jail time stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation, former President Trump said it would be ‘very dangerous’ if he went to jail. The Morning Joe panel discusses.

  4. That makes SIX civil or criminal trials on the calendar:

    –Now (Cohen suit for legal fees)

    –October

    –January (2)

    –March

    –May.

    PLUS two more criminal indictments coming soon.

  5. Court TV could set up a special desk to cover the trials of an orange moron.  I am sure there will be all sorts of appeals floating around and calls to the funders of the court formerly known as supreme asking begging for someone to stop it.  Oh how these months will provide entertainment never seen in this country. 

  6. What does Amy Phony Barrett have to say about all of this — 
    I heard she called Clarence nigger because she thinks it’s a term of endearment

  7. I figure it will be a cold day in hell before Trump goes to trial on the documents case in May, 2024.  Cannon will be faced with delay tactics (too busy to meet the deadlines, other such bullshit) and we’ll see whether she capitulates, which she should not do unless Smith’s team fails to meet the deadlines she set for them. I hope she has more Earl Warren than Clarence Thomas in her.

    From WaPo (https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/07/21/trump-trial-date-classified-documents/):

    “Trump’s attorneys also said that in addition to a busy campaign schedule, Trump will be entangled in other court cases in the near future.”

    I know how far that argument would get in front of either of our Federal District Court judges, and it would not be very far at all.

  8. craig, scratch the cohen trial

    the hill:

    Michael Cohen has settled his lawsuit against the Trump Organization for an undisclosed amount, avoiding a trial that was set to begin Monday in New York state court.
    Cohen, who served as former President Trump’s long-time fixer, had alleged the Trump Organization owed him roughly $1.3 million in unpaid legal fees Cohen owes to outside counsel in connection with various investigations and lawsuits.
    […]
    A jury of six men and three women were already empaneled to hear the case, which was set to begin Monday in Lower Manhattan. 
    Cohen was expected to call multiple witnesses across four days, chief among them the former president’s son, Donald Trump Jr.
    […]
    Trump’s other son, Eric, and Allen Weisselberg, Trump Organization’s longtime chief financial officer, could have been called as rebuttal witnesses for Cohen, the filings show, but the former president was not expected to appear.
    Trump Organization attorneys indicated they planned to call Cohen as one of their witnesses if he didn’t testify, plus attorneys from the law firms to which Cohen owes money.

  9. guess cohen thought he better get the money while there was still some to get in light of the e. jean carroll awards looming for loser guy to pay.

  10. I hope Phony Barrett put a lot of money in the corruption jar.  She received a2million dollar book contract  

  11. JFK’s grandson calls RFK Jr.’s White House bid ‘an embarrassment,’ endorses Biden | The Hill

    […]
    Endorsing Biden’s reelection campaign, he said the 46th president “shares my grandfather’s vision for America: That we do things not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
    “He is in the middle of becoming the greatest progressive president we’ve ever had,” he said, citing unemployment and jobs figures, infrastructure and green energy investments and the appointment of federal judges.
    “He ended the COVID pandemic and he ended Donald Trump,” Schlossberg added before blasting his cousin Kennedy’s campaign for the Democratic nomination.
    “These are the issues that matter. And if my cousin, Bobby Kennedy Jr., cared about any of them, he would support Joe Biden, too,” Schlossberg said of his family member, an environmental lawyer and vaccine skeptic.
    “Instead, he’s trading in on Camelot, celebrity conspiracy theories and conflict for personal gain and fame.”

  12. Fulton county prosecutors prepare racketeering charges in Trump inquiry | Georgia | The Guardian

    The Fulton county district attorney investigating Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state of Georgia has developed evidence to charge a sprawling racketeering indictment next month, according to two people briefed on the matter.
    […]
    The racketeering statute in Georgia is more expansive than its federal counterpart, notably because any attempts to solicit or coerce the qualifying crimes can be included as predicate acts of racketeering activity, even when those crimes cannot be indicted separately.
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    since it’s a state not fed case, their court may move faster picking a trial date. different rules equal “different strokes for different folks” as Mohammed Ali would say.

  13. Racketeering – I like the sound of that.
     
    I thought Sly Stone was the originator of different strokes….🎵 and so on, and so on and scooby dooby doooooby. 🎹 But that was after Ali popularized it I guess. Shows what I know (now).

  14. Pogacar claims he wants to try and win tomorrow’s stage – Last mountain stage and concludes with two Category 1 climbs.  We’ll see.  

  15. Friday – what the heck news is left hanging around that can be dumped out this evening? 
     
    I wonder what his babysitters are planning this weekend to keep the orange moron busy?  Golf? After a shank like that I would not put my face at any golf course for a month.  Something in the playpen to distract?  Maybe a flight somewhere to connect with whatsherface?  A “rally”, which are looking like gatherings to meet a B actor from 1960 sci-fi flicks? 
     
    D.C. is going to be comfortable, for D.C. standards, this weekend. I hope our visitors enjoy something quite rare for this time of the year.  But, I tend to think many do not feel the weather as they suck in the history and ambiance of this place.  It can be overwhelming to many.  When I had to be downtown I would occasionally go to the Mall just to walk by the people and see their eyes and the cartoon memory balloons – OMG there is so much here!!!.  The kids not bothering to use memory thoughts, “Mom Dad – look there is the Smithsonian – let’s go!!!.

  16. Pogacar claims he wants to try and win tomorrow’s stage

    …only way is if Vingegaard lets him win because Vingegaard can’t allow him to break-away and Pocagar isn’t faster

    Vingegaard won the Tour when he waited for Pogacar after Pogacar wrecked trying to attack. We all know the unwritten rule of not attacking a distressed yellow-jersey, but i never heard of the leader waiting for the guys in the back to get their shit together = game over

  17. Absolutely. I’d say those last 2 climbs will show who’s recovered better from the Alps. My take is that head to head Vingegaard has a slight edge on Pogacar this year. 

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