America’s judicial system needs serious ethics attention

Cross Currents

The recent shocking news revealed by an article in ProPublica involving Supreme Court Justice Clarence omas’ failure to report luxury trips paid by Texan billionaire and conservative donor Harlan Crow has raised legitimate concerns.

omas and his wife Ginni have been the beneciary of numerous private vacations over the past two decades. Has he reported the value of these vacations, which have an equivalent value of up to $500,000 per trip? e answer is “no.” e nancial disclosure law that covers justices and other federal ocials states that “knowingly and willfully” failing to make required disclo- sures can result in nes. omas has responded indicating that he and his wife have taken the “family trips” but was not aware of any reporting requirement. However, prior to 2004, he did le non-cash bene ts.

Enforcement

Of Regulations Has Been Slack

As seen in the omas vacation exposure as well as situations with our own Colorado Supreme Court, a lack of disciplinary action with judges, including Colorado Supreme Court judges, have been revealed in the recent past. A tightening up of enforcing rules and regulations pertaining to judges is obvious and action is needed.

Also, additional standards of behavior are warranted with appropriate nes and punishment spelled out.

e trouble seems to be in knowing who oversees such discipline and is compelled to take action. An earlier situation with omas’ wife Ginni is worthy of noting as well. She is known for her political activism and made calls directly to high-ranking members of Trump’s administration regarding the “stolen election” in 2020. is incident at least would have justi ed an investigation to determine any wrongdoing. e punchline here is the clique’ that states “no one should be above the law” including judges and their spouses. At one time, the U.S. Supreme Court was held in considerable esteem by the American public. Its “trust rating” was as high as 50%. Today, it sits at 25% which is a major concern. When trust is eroded, it can lead to actions like the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol (which I do not favor).

Dominion vs Fox News settlement is a whopper

By now, the various networks (except Fox News of course), will have