‘IMPARTIALITY’

Ketanji Brown Jackson Backs Supreme Court Ethics Code

“I follow the rules,” the associate justice said in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said she would consider supporting a code of ethics for the U.S. Supreme Court that would enforce gift disclosures and recusals. On Jul. 29, President Biden proposed a plan to reform the court through an ethics code and 18-year term limits for those on the bench, following calls for action from numerous Democratic lawmakers. “From my perspective, I don’t have any problem with an enforceable code,” she told CBS Sunday Morning. “A binding code of ethics is pretty standard for judges. And so I guess the question is, ‘Is the Supreme Court any different?’” In June, polling from AP/NORC found that 70% of respondents agreed that SCOTUS justices were “more likely to shape the law to fit their own ideologies.” (The associate justice, who said she “follows the rules,” would not comment on her colleague Clarence Thomas’ controversial acceptance of nearly $4 million in gifts.) “It really boils down to impartiality,” Brown Jackson added. “That’s what the rules are about. People are entitled to know if you're accepting gifts as a judge—so that they can evaluate whether or not your opinions are impartial.”