SCOTUS Gifts and GOP Math

[*michaelsean*]

(06-07-2024, 07:26 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: I personally think that if you receive a paycheck from the federal government, you should have the same rules as all federal employees when it comes to gifts. Here is the problem, though. We have too many different rules: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/7353

Now, the ethics guidelines for federal judges are very...squishy, and even more so when it comes to SCOTUS because of course they are. I have a real problem with any group doing their own oversight like some of these groups do, and that includes the courts.

The code of conduct for the courts is made by the judges themselves with the Chief presiding over all of it. What could go wrong?! The issue here lies with the way federal judges tend to think of themselves. Ask those attorneys who have practiced in federal courts for any significant period of time and they will tell you that the jurists tend to have a rather elevated opinion of themselves, somehow above reproach. This exists across any sort of partisan boundaries and increases as you move up the judicial ladder. To put it another way, they tend to think their shit don't stink. This is just what I have learned from the legal media I consume and also knowing some of these lawyers myself (I live in a small city that also has a federal courthouse).

Now, don't let this be confused with me saying they are bad judges, they just tend to have an attitude about them that is disastrous when it comes to self-governance. There needs to be a new solution to this. Every group should have some say in their own ethics codes, but there should be an independent group that plays a role in aiding in this oversight that is accountable to the people in some way. But nothing will ever happen, so yeah...

Maybe this is too simplistic, but checks and balances. Congress and the President can pass laws that govern this kind of thing.