Demand Progress

Recently, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Moore v. Harper, “one of the scariest election cases in the Supreme Court’s modern history,” according to Vox.¹ The court’s ruling will determine whether states can overturn election results and gerrymander to their hearts’ content.²

Justice Clarence Thomas should not be allowed to rule on this case due to his wife’s extensive involvement in the Trump coup attempt. Demand Progress — and over 200,000 affiliated activists — called for Justice Thomas to recuse himself. Yet it looks like he’ll rule on the case and ignore our calls for basic ethical conduct. Congress must pass legislation tackling corruption on the Supreme Court, now.

Sign the petition: Pass the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal and Transparency Act to enact urgently-needed ethical standards for the Supreme Court!

Justice Thomas has already demonstrated he’s unable to rule fairly on cases pertaining to Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. In January 2021, Thomas was the only justice who sided with Trump in a case determining whether the January 6th Committee could access Trump White House records.³

Just two months later, we learned the extent of his wife’s involvement in the Trump coup attempt. Ginni Thomas texted with Trump’s former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows about the insurrection and pressured lawmakers at the state and federal levels to throw out the fairly-determined election results.⁴ There’s no way Clarence Thomas can be trusted to rule fairly in Moore v. Harper or other Trump-related cases.

The Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal and Transparency Act would require real scrutiny of the recusal process.⁴ It would also help shut down attempts to influence the Supreme Court by enacting stricter rules around justices’ travel and accepting gifts. This legislation passed the House Judiciary Committee in May — now it’s ready for a floor vote in the House and the Senate. 

Supreme Court Justices keep proving they won’t act ethically on their own. It’s time for Congress to force them to do it. 

Sign the petition: Pass the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal and Transparency Act to enact urgently-needed ethical standards for the Supreme Court!

Sources: 

1. Vox, “Amy Coney Barrett appears likely to block the GOP's latest attack on democracy,” December 7, 2022.
2. New York Times, “Supreme Court to Hear Arguments on Far-Reaching Elections Case,” December 6, 2022.
3. Washington Post, “Virginia Thomas urged White House chief to pursue unrelenting efforts to overturn the 2020 election, texts show,” March 24, 2022.
4. House Judiciary Committee, “House Judiciary Committee Passes Supreme Court Ethics Legislation,” May 11, 2022.