Saturday, June 18, 2011
Justice Thomas' Ethics
A NYT report highlights Justice Thomas' ethical stance regarding the Pin Point, Georgia museum.
As we previously discussed, Supreme Court Justices are not bound by the usual code of conduct for federal judges, although Congress presumably has power to declare otherwise.
And perhaps Congress should act.
In addition to the problems with the Pin Point Museum funded by a private donor which discusses Justice Thomas while not exactly honoring him, and the various reports regarding Thomas' wife, the NYT reports this:
Justice Thomas’s gift acceptances drew attention in 2004, when The Los Angeles Times reported that he had accumulated gifts totaling $42,200 in the previous six years — far more than any of the other justices. Since 2004, Justice Thomas has never reported another gift. He has continued to disclose travel costs paid by schools and organizations he has visited for speeches and teaching, but he has not reported that any travel was provided by Mr. Crow [the funder of the Pin Point musuem].
Travel records for Mr. Crow’s planes and yacht, however, suggest that Justice Thomas may have used them in recent years.
The NYT article is worth reading in full.
RR
(h/t Atiba Ellis).
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/conlaw/2011/06/justice-thomas-ethics.html
Corruption of the Courts in the United States: Dred Scott redux?
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In the years leading to the Civil War it was argued that the rights for life, liberty, and property were secured in the Fifth Amendment. The US courts failed to protect such rights, as best documented in the Dred Scott Decision. Following the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted, to further secure these rights through ‘equal protection.’ Today, the US courts again fail to protect these Constitutional and Civil Rights, and the US government fails to perform its duties and obligations in protection of the Human Rights of the People pursuant to international law. The People are routinely deprived of Life, liberty, and property with no due process of law. The latter two - often to cater to large corporate interests. Corruption of the US courts has reached levels not seen for a century and is one of the fundamental causes of the current financial crisis. Unless reform of the US courts is initiated, civil society and socio-economic conditions in the US are unlikely to be restored, leaving other nations as unwitting collateral.
READ THE FULL STORY:
[1] 11-06-14 Corruption of the Courts and Failing Banking Regulation in the United States: Dred Scott redux?
http://www.scribd.com/doc/57707808/
Posted by: Joseph Zernik | Jun 19, 2011 9:22:06 AM