Justice Alito’s Corrupt Student Debt Ruling Makes It Clear: We Need A Supreme Court Ethics Act!
Petition to Congress:
Justice Alito accepted luxuriously gifts and vacations from a billionaire right-wing donor who lobbied to destroy Biden’s student debt relief plan. Alito refused to recuse himself on last week’s student debt ruling, and voted to overturn debt relief. We cannot allow this obvious corruption on our highest court. Congress must pass the Judicial Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act now!
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito accepted luxurious gifts and trips from right-wing billionaire Paul Singer, who was actively lobbying to destroy President Biden’s student debt relief plan. After those gifts, Alito did Singer’s bidding and voted last week to overturn student debt relief.1
Even after this conflict of interest was made public in June, Alito refused to recuse himself in the case.
Unlike nearly every other public official in the country, Supreme Court justices are not bound by any code of conduct. Clearly, this right-wing court cannot be trusted to hold themselves to any code of conduct. Congress must take action now to impose basic ethics standards on this out-of-control SCOTUS corruption.2
Alito’s billionaire friend and benefactor Paul Singer had multiple financial connections to the U.S. Department of Education v. Brown case that overturned President Biden’s student debt relief plan, which would have forgiven $10,000-20,000 for some borrowers. A shadowy right-wing organization called the Job Creators Network has been the group waging the public legal fight against student debt relief. Singer is a major donor to the Judicial Crisis Network, which has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding to the Job Creators Network.2
Singer serves as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Manhattan Institute, a right-wing think tank that fought for the Supreme Court to strike down student debt relief. Singer has contributed over $80 million to the Institute. In 2010, Singer gave Alito a fawning introduction ahead of the Justice’s keynote address at a dinner for the Institute’s major donors.3
Last month, ProPublica exposed the extent of Singer’s gifts to Alito. Alito accepted a luxury fishing trip at a lodge that charged $1,000 per day. Singer also flew Alito out on a private jet that likely cost roughly $100,000. Coordinating the trip was Leonard Leo, the head of the Federalist Society, and the architect of the right-wing judicial takeover. Alito never disclosed these trips, nor has he recused himself in any of the multiple cases when Singer had business before the court.3
The Judicial Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act would finally require SCOTUS justices to follow an ethics code, ban all federal judges from owning conflicted assets like stocks and securities, strengthen restrictions on judicial gifts and privately funded travel, overhaul the broken recusal process, and create new mechanisms for judicial accountability. Congress must start restoring faith in our courts and enact this Supreme Court code of conduct NOW.
Sources:
- The Hill, “Ocasio-Cortez slams Alito for ‘corruption’ over student loan decision,” June 30, 2023.
- Truthout, “Advocates: Alito Must Recuse Due to Billionaire’s Stake in Student Debt Cases,” June 21, 2023.
- ProPublica, “Justice Samuel Alito Took Luxury Fishing Vacation With GOP Billionaire Who Later Had Cases Before the Court,” June 20, 2023.