# Supreme Court Ethics Act

This bill would require the nine Supreme Court justices to follow a written code of ethics, similar to the rules that apply to all other federal judges. Right now, the Supreme Court is the only federal court without a binding ethics code that justices must follow. The bill would establish clear standards for when justices need to recuse themselves from cases, how they should handle conflicts of interest, and what financial disclosures they need to make public.

The practical effect is that Supreme Court justices would face the same ethical expectations as judges in lower courts across the country. For example, if a justice has a financial stake in a company involved in a case, they would be required to sit out that case rather than participate in the decision. The bill would also require justices to publicly disclose their financial holdings and any gifts they receive, making it easier for the public to understand potential conflicts of interest. Currently, justices decide for themselves whether to recuse from cases, and there's no requirement for them to explain their reasoning.

This matters to everyday people because Supreme Court decisions affect major issues like healthcare, voting rights, employment, and more. When people know that justices are following clear ethical rules and disclosing potential conflicts, it can increase public confidence that decisions are being made fairly rather than influenced by personal financial interests. The bill essentially brings the highest court in the land into line with ethics standards that have applied to other judges for decades.

Supreme Court Ethics Act

Murphy, Christopher

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).