Press Releases

LCV Statement on SCOTUS ‘Code of Conduct’

Nov 14, 2023

Washington, D.C. — In response to yesterday’s announcement by the Supreme Court of the United States that justices will abide by a code of conduct, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) issued the following statement from Senior Director of Judiciary & Democracy Doug Lindner:

“After so many shocking revelations about the corruption of Justices like Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, a Supreme Court code of ethics is long overdue, but the one they just announced is too little and too late. This weak, unenforceable attempt at damage control does not represent meaningful progress. The Court even began its own announcement by acknowledging that most of their code is not new. At a time of well-deserved cratering confidence in the high court’s integrity, the Justices should be getting serious about ethics instead of downplaying the need for Congress to act. We cannot have a healthy environment without fair courts led by ethical judges free from the corrupting influence of Big Polluters and special interests, and yet Justices Thomas and Alito keep making anti-environment rulings despite their ties to the fossil fuel industry. Our people, our planet, and our democracy deserve a Supreme Court we can trust. Congress must swiftly pass the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act, which will impose real, binding ethics rules on our nation’s highest court.”

###