Justice Clarence Thomas: An Apex Court in Ethical Crisis
Why is Harlan Crow, a Republican megadonor, so generous to Justice Thomas and his family?
For twenty years, he lavishly treated Justice Thomas and his wife, Ginni Thomas, to luxury vacations on his private jet and superyacht. He hosted them in exclusive private resorts worldwide, costing hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars.
In addition, Crow donated $500,000 to Ginni Thomas to start Liberty Central — a now-defunct conservative group. While he purchased and renovated Thomas’ properties in Savannah, Georgia, he kept Thomas’ mother in the house rent-free for almost a decade. He also paid thousands of dollars in tuition for Justice Thomas’ grandnephew.
Consequently, Justice Thomas kept these gifts and the $133,363 he realized from the real estate transactions private and undisclosed in his annual filings dated back to twenty years.
UNLIKE STATE AND FEDERAL JUDGES, the US Supreme Court has no ethics code, as it overlooks the justices’ conflicts of interest and ethical violations. This reality is an absurdity. If ethical guidelines bind state and federal judges, so should the US Supreme Court justices.
What do you think?
- Do you believe the Court should have a code of conduct?
- Do you also think the US Supreme Court or the US Senate to investigate Justice Thomas for ethical lapses?
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