Astonishing Corruption at The Supreme Court?

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[robertt]

It’s crazy that regular civil servants have more restrictions, oversight and punishments then those at the highest levels.

[melodymcdaniel]

Man, I work for a local government agency and we aren't even allowed to give our supervisors birthday gifts. The fact that the highest court in the entire country has less ethical integrity than us is a huge joke.

[joermnyc]

All 9 of them saying, “don’t worry, we can self-police ourselves” is all the more reason to impose a code of ethics on them!

[Gnight]

I work for a company, I am not a Supreme Court justice, but if someone gives me anything worth more than 25$ and I don't disclose it, I lose my job. Full stop. This is insane.

[daniele]

I'm so sick of the two tiered legal system. I was a prison guard, and every year we were lectured on the crime of accepting "gifts". How we would get fired and even prosecuted. If only I had been "friends" with a billionaire...

[troubadour]

“Unchecked power over the entire American legal system” — that’s actually a nice concise way of describing everything that is wrong with said “legal” system.

[anevilscientist]

The funniest of all this is that Thomas's defense is basically "I didn't know the law." Since he's supposed to be one of the top legal professionals of the country.

[JBass]

I was an administrative law judge during my legal career. Not only was I bound by the strict ethics rules of the State Bar of California, I was also bound by the even stricter ethic rules applied to judicial officers. I had to fill out detailed reports every year listing every source of any kind of income from stocks, bonds, speaking fees, gifts, etc.) and I was required to avoid even the “appearance of impropriety.” Regardless of whether he was technically required to report his free trips, etc, the actions of Justice Thomas certainly gives the appearance of impropriety. But no, the Supreme Court considers itself above such rules. Time for a change.

[FiresCollide]

My favorite thing is the way this is all being defended like "You can't possibly expect me, a Supreme Court Justice whose job and duty it is to interpret and understand complicated law, to correctly interpret and understand complicated law."

[DontFeedTheTrolls]

When I worked as a county employee, I couldn't even accept a cup of coffee for free. This is an OUTRAGE!!

[ra]

All I learned from this is that nobody will be held accountable.

[jbmp]

If regular citizens can be held to the standard that ignorance of the law is not an excuse for breaking it, then a judge for the highest court in the land should definitely be held to that same standard, preferably one that's even harsher. How the hell does a supreme court justice claim to not know the law on something so obvious?!

[superdimensionfoto]

While attending college I worked as a bank teller, I had to refuse all gifts over $10 in value and report everything under for approval including Christmas cookies. Even though I had zero power to approve loans or remove late charges. It all got reported. He gets millions of dollar worth of gifts from influential friends, and he's got the power to make decisions that will influence millions of our lives. Where's justice in that?

[kinjiru]

The Court has lost all credibility. When there is no appetite to deal with possible corruption and insufficient mechanisms of accountability, corruption will only become worse. The fact that the Court seems unconcerned with the appearance of corruption tells the tale.

[JazerMedia]

I don't know what's worse, that a judge in the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States of America didn't know well enough that what he was doing was unlawful, that he knowingly did it without fear of recourse, or that he was so out of touch that he didn't find what he was doing problematic at all.

[JR-prjb]

The Court's corruption is one thing, but what gets me is their arrogant refusal even to acknowledge possible wrongdoing.

[Ericc]

It’s legal when a Supreme Court justice do it, but if it’s a mail room clerk, please expect him/her to go to jail. This is the insane world that we live in.

[sookendestroy]

My favorite part is a supreme court justice arguing "I didnt know this was illegal therefore It shouldnt be an issue" which is like the 5th graders understanding of the law, that if you didn't know it was illegal it doesnt apply to you

[avpguy]

“We’ve investigated ourselves and found no wrongdoing”-SCOTUS

[marz]

“I was unaware the law required me to report that.”
- Supreme Court Justice