Ocasio-Cortez, Raskin to introduce legislation to ‘rein in a fundamentally unaccountable and rogue’ Supreme Court
Reps. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D.Y.) & Jamie Raskin (D.Md. ) On Tuesday, they announced that they would be introducing legislation to address the growing ethics concerns regarding the Supreme Court.
Ocasio Cortez and Raskin – who are the vice-ranking and ranking members of the House Oversight Committee – were invited to a roundtable discussion on Tuesday about these issues. According to MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, the two discussed various “avenues,” for holding Supreme Court Justices accountable.
It is not a matter of whether Congress has the power and jurisdiction over the Supreme Court. Ocasio Cortez asked Tuesday night, “What power will we exercise to rein in an unaccountable court that is rogue?”
She added, “Congressman Raskin will be introducing legislation in the near future to have the Supreme Court subject to the $50 gift rule as he and me are subject to.
In the last year, the Supreme Court came under intense scrutiny following a series reports that detailed various undeclared luxury trips, gifts and questionable extrajudicial activity involving several justices. These reports sparked interest in the congressional oversight of justices’ behavior, and gifts they accept.
Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats repeatedly called for legislation to improve oversight of the Supreme Court. The pressure on the Supreme Court increased last month, after news reports revealed that two flags were flown above Justice Samuel Alito’s residences, including an upside down American flag, in anticipation of President Biden’s inauguration, which is scheduled for January 6, 2021.
It’s the country’s highest court with the lowest standards of ethics. They are the only government officials in the country who do not have a code of ethics that is binding. Raskin stated that there is no way to hold them accountable.
We need to fix that. Raskin explained that we would start by introducing something that everyone could understand instantly and intuitively. “We are in favor of a gift ban of $50 for U.S. Supreme Court Justices. They earn $300,000 per year. “Pay for your lunch and your vacation.”
On Tuesday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D – Illinois) informed reporters that Democrats plan to move legislation on Supreme Court Ethics on the floor of the Senate this week by unanimous consent. It is expected that a Republican senator will deny consent.
The Supreme Court adopted an ethics code in November. However, Democrats claim that its impact has been hampered because each justice can enforce it on themselves.