To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for a code of conduct for justices and judges of the courts of the United States, establish an ethics investigations counsel, and require disclosure of recusals.
About This Bill
Committee
Latest Action · February 9, 2023
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Supreme Court Ethics Act
This bill establishes a new statutory requirement for the Judicial Conference of the United States to issue a judicial code of conduct for judges and justices of U.S. courts, including Justices of the Supreme Court. Currently, the Judicial Conference issues a code of conduct for judges of U.S. courts (but not for Justices of the Supreme Court).
To enforce the code of conduct for Justices of the Supreme Court, the bill requires the Supreme Court to appoint an ethics investigations counsel. The ethics investigations counsel must
adopt rules to enforce the code of conduct, including a process to receive public complaints of potential violations; investigate complaints; and issue an annual public report describing the complaints and the steps taken to address the complaints. Finally, the bill requires a Justice of the Supreme Court to publicly disclose the reasons for disqualifying himself or herself in a proceeding or the reasons for denying a motion to disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding.
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