I don’t know why supreme court justices are not held to the same code of conduct that other federal judges are made to abide by. That code of conduct, aka the Canons, is arranged as follows:
Canon 1: A Judge Should Uphold the Integrity and Independence of the Judiciary
Canon 2: A Judge Should Avoid Impropriety and the Appearance of Impropriety in All Activities
Canon 3: A Judge Should Perform the Duties of the Office Fairly, Impartially and Diligently
Canon 4: A Judge May Engage in Extrajudicial Activities That Are Consistent with the Obligations of Judicial Office
Canon 5: A Judge Should Refrain from Political Activity
When you look at the list of Canons, and the commentary within the guide to judiciary policy, when you see what all judges that are not supreme court justices are asked to follow, it makes one ask a question. Why isn’t the Supreme Court asked to follow these same canons?
They say that they follow those canons voluntarily. And yet the news is out that there is a justice that has very much gone out and broken these canons. That he has failed to refrain from political activity by appearing at a private political retreat.That the prohibition against fundraising has been expressly broken by Supreme court justice Clarence Thomas. That he has violated the 1978 ethics in government act by failing to disclose his wife’s employment at a political organization.
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Life is a roar of bargain and battle, but in the very heart of it there rises a mystic spiritual tone that gives meaning to the whole. It transmutes the dull details into romance. It reminds is that our only but wholly adequate significance is as parts of the unimaginable whole. It suggests that even while living we are living to ends outside ourselves.
Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
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He claims he didn’t understand the paperwork involved. That might from some people sound reasonable. But from a man with a mind as formidable, and quick as Justice Thomas, sounds disingenuous. He cannot lay claim to a lack of understanding for those clear breaches of the canons.
The time has come for accountability to become codified into law. It is time for the Supreme court to be made to follow the canons. Is it just to control one clearly politically activist member of the judiciary? Yes and no. Yes, he should be stopped, his actions that go against the canons besmirch all judges, and the entirety of the federal judiciary, are unconscionable. But it is not just because of him. It is because if one justice can do it , and there have been allegations that at the very least 2 others currently on the court have skirted the canons, that many others can. Which creates a judiciary that is accountable only to themselves, who become a power untouchable, available to the highest bidder.
It is to preserve the power of the people, and of the constitution, that the canons need to be made applicable to supreme court justices. To fail to do so would be foolish in the extreme.
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The actions of Justice Thomas at once flaunt his political views, and his disregard for any code of conduct that other judges are ordered to adhere to. He has acted in a way that is both improper and injudicious, something that is incredibly twisted and wrong in someone whose job is to be just.
Justice Thomas Must Be Impeached!
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That’s it from here, America. G’night.
Casus Belli 