(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Thomas Shows Why the Supreme Court Must Be Expanded [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-15 “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” -- Lord John Edward Action, 19th Century British politician Back in 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt proposed legislation that would give him the opportunity to add seats to the U.S. Supreme Court, claiming it would make the panel more efficient. His plan went nowhere as most Republicans and many Democrats interpreted it as an attempt to neutralize the justices who were opposed to his New Deal. They rightfully saw it as a political maneuver and called it “court packing.” More than eight decades later, it might be time to take another look at adding seats to our highest court, this time because it’s level of corruption has been eroding public confidence in what is supposed to be a fair and honest arbiter of our nation’s most important legal issues. If we reach the point – and we’re heading there – that the court is seen as nothing more than a bunch of bought-off biased judges more interested in promoting their ideologies than in justice itself the danger to our country and our democracy will be incalculable. The latest stain on the court is brought to you by Justice Clarence Thomas after it was learned that for 20 years, he’s accepted lavish gifts of travel from billionaire Republican megadonor Harlan Crow without reporting them. A ProPublica investigation revealed that Thomas has taken international cruises on Crow’s superyacht, flown on his private jet, and regularly vacationed at his private resort in the Adirondacks. “The extent and frequency of Crow’s apparent gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the U.S. Supreme Court,” ProPublica reported. After the initial story broke, ProPublica reported that Thomas was involved in a real estate transaction in which his mother’s home and two vacant lots in Savannah, Ga., were sold to Crow for $133,000 in 2014. The sellers were listed as Thomas, his mother, and the family of Thomas’s late brother. A federal disclosure law requires justices and other officials to disclose the details of most real estate sales over $1,000, but Thomas never did so. Thomas issued a statement in which he acknowledged the “family trips” and claimed that “Early in my tenure at the Court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable.” The problem with that is ProPublica consulted seven ethics experts, including former ethics lawyers from Congress and the White House, and they said the law clearly requires disclosure of gifts and transportation, such as private jet flights. They noted that Thomas had disclosed similar flights in the late 1990s, one of them on Crow’s jet. For his part, Crow said that he’d extended “hospitality” to Thomas and his wife Ginni (more on her later), but that Thomas never asked for it, it was “no different from the hospitality we have extended to our many other dear friends,” and “We have never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue.” None of that really matters. The code of conduct for federal judges below the Supreme Court requires them to avoid even the “appearance of impropriety.” As far as the Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts has written that they “consult” that code for guidance. Consult? In fact, the court pretty much polices itself, and there are few restrictions on what gifts the justices can accept. Thomas’s fun times on Crow’s dime, which included hobnobbing with similarly thinking Republicans – like the Federalist Society’s Leonard Leo -- goes light years beyond the “appearance of impropriety.” What was Thomas, a man who makes $285,000 a year, thinking? The better question would be why would an entitled egomaniac with a lifetime appointment in his pocket and no real oversight think anything but “What time does the gravy train arrive?” Crow has been a major Republican donor for decades, including efforts to shape the law and the judiciary. He’s given more than $10 million in publicly disclosed political contributions. He’s also given to dark money groups that keep their donors secret. “I don’t disclose what I’m not required to disclose,” Crow told the New York Times. Of course, he keep those donations a secret because of the Supreme Court’s rulings on campaign finance law supported by both Thomas and Roberts. This isn’t the first question of Thomas’s ethics. Last year, he didn’t’ recuse himself from cases that touched on the involvement of his wife Ginni in efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Speaking of Ginni Thomas, in 2011 Politico reported that Crow had given half a million dollars to a Tea Party group founded by her, which also paid her a $120,000 salary. Hey, there’s plenty to go around. The relationship between Thomas and Crow wasn’t a complete surprise. It was reported back in 2011. Apparently, nothing changed after that. So, what will change now? An ethics watchdog group, the Campaign Legal Center, is calling for the Justice Department to look into Thomas’s failure to report these various trips, ProPublica said. Also, Democrats in Congress have called on Roberts to investigate, and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee plan to hold a hearing “regarding the need to restore confidence in the Supreme Court’s ethical standards.” They also announced an effort to reform ethics rules for federal judges. That’s all well and good, but is this court too far gone to let it stand as is? It’s been written here before that the level of corruption this body has exhibited is enough to justify Democrats expanding it. That’s based on the corruption of the selection process by Republicans in the Senate that has given the GOP a 6-3 advantage when it should really be 5-4 in favor of the Democrats. Adding four new justices would give the Democrats the one-seat edge they should have today. More corruption was seen when multiple conservative justices lied during their confirmation hearings that they saw Roe v. Wade as settled law, only to turn around and throw it out when they had the votes to do so. You could also make that argument that Justice Brett Kavanaugh, facing accusations of sexual misconduct when he was in high school, exclaiming “what goes around, comes around” during a congressional hearing was a declaration of revenge that should have disqualified him immediately. Will Bunch, a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, said it better than I could when he wrote: “Here in the United States, citizens have already seen the independence and moral standing of our Supreme Court shrink under the weight of millions and now billions of dollars in billionaire “dark money” around the confirmation and lobbying of High Court justices, their frequent ethical lapses, and the increasingly political and thinly justified majority decisions they hand down.” Among other questionable activities, Bunch pointed to a New York Times report that Jane Sullivan Roberts – the wife of John Roberts and a high-powered law partner – makes millions of dollars in commissions for placing lawyers in top law firms, some of which argue cases before the Supreme Court, over which her husband presides. The Supreme Court has devolved – no surprise here -- due to the Republicans into a dangerous place. To not fix it will lead to grave issues down the road. It threatens our democracy and our rights when one of our three branches of government becomes this corrupted. This iteration of the court has already struck down women’s reproductive rights, a decision rejected by the majority of Americans. There’s no telling how far it will push its conservative ideology down our collective throats concerning things like LGBTQ and contraceptive rights, not to mention rulings that could damage our democracy itself. A code of ethics is a must, but we need to do more to undo the damage. Democrats, when they have the opportunity, need expand the court. It’s the only way to really stem the rot. Back to our favorite justice. Crow said he and his wife have funded a number of projects that celebrate Thomas. “We believe it is important to make sure as many people as possible learn about him, remember him, and understand the ideals for which he stands.” Save your money Harlan, we already know. *** Some recommended reading: Clarence Thomas and the Billionaire Billionaire Harlan Crow Bought Property From Clarence Thomas. The Justice Didn’t Disclose the Deal Clarence Thomas Defends Undisclosed “Family Trips” With GOP Megadonor. Here Are the Facts. Ethics Watchdog Urges Justice Department Investigation Into Clarence Thomas’ Trips Lawmakers Call for Investigation and Ethics Reforms in Response to ProPublica Report on Clarence Thomas Congress Members Announce Hearing, Demand Chief Justice Investigate Clarence Thomas’ Trips When will Americans flood the streets to protest our broken, corrupt Supreme Court? *** Thank you for reading my post. You can see more of my writing on my blog: Musings of a Nobody. 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