Justice Elena Kagan publicly declared her support for an ethics code for the U.S. Supreme Court but said there was no consensus among the justices on how to proceed, suggesting the high court is grappling with public concerns over its ethics practices.
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It has come under growing scrutiny for its lack of an official code of conduct, and public trust in the body is at a 50-year low following a series of polarized rulings, including the overturning of Roe v. Wade and federal abortion protections last year.
The Associated Press obtained thousands of pages of documents that show how justices spanning the court’s ideological divide have lent the prestige of their positions to partisan activity — by headlining speaking events with prominent politicians — or to advance their own personal interests, such as book sales, through college visits.
And reporting from ProPublica earlier this year revealed Justice Clarence Thomas participated in lavish vacations and a real estate deal with a top Republican donor.
No provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court—period,” the conservative justice said in an interview he gave to the Wall Street Journal opinion pages.
Kagan on Thursday was speaking to an audience of judges, attorneys and court personnel from the 9th Circuit, which spans the western states of California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alaska and Hawaii.
These included the scrapping of President Biden’s $400 billion plan to cancel or reduce federal student debt loans, ending affirmative action in higher education, and issuing a major ruling that impacts gay rights.
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