‘Huge News’ as Congress Tightens Ethics Rules for Federal Judges

Ethics watchdogs on Wednesday welcomed passage of legislation tightening financial disclosure requirements for federal judges as a step in addressing a widespread crisis that requires broader reforms.

The legislation has been named Courthouse Ethics and Transparency Act. According to House Judiciary Democrats, it challenges the alarming lack of transparency in the personal financial holdings of federal judges and the conflicts—or appearance of conflicts—those holdings can create in the cases those judges are asked to decide.

The measure was passed by a voice vote in the House on Wednesday after clearing the Senate in February. It now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk.

Moreover, the bill’s advancement comes months after a groundbreaking Wall Street Journal investigation. The investigation revealed that, from 2010 to 2018, 131 judges heard nearly 700 cases in which they or their families had interests, violating federal law.

Adding to recent concerns about the impartiality of the federal judiciary is Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ case. He had failed to recuse himself in cases related to the January 6, 2001 attack on the Capitol in light of his wife’s texts to former White House Chief of Staff pushing for the 2020 election results to be overturned.

The measure would amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 in two ways. Firstly, it would establish a searchable online database with judges’ financial disclosure forms within 90 days of them being filed.

Secondly, it would extend the federal STOCK Act requirement to cover federal judges. As a result, they would have to file periodic transaction reports for securities transactions over $1,000.

In a statement following the vote, Rep. Deborah Ross (D-N.C.), one of the lawmakers who introduced the measure said the bill would “improve transparency, accountability, and public faith in the ability of our courts to carry out fair, impartial justice.”

Additionally, the bill will hold federal judges to the same financial transaction disclosure requirements as members of other branches of government.

The Project on Government Oversight called the measure’s passage “huge news”. Moreover it said that it’s a “vital legislation that will boost public trust in the judiciary and codify judicial ethics.”

Another government watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), said the passage was “a great start for judicial ethics reform.” However, the group added, “it’s not enough on its own.”

Speaking to a House panel Wednesday, CREW senior vice president and chief counsel Donald Sherman told lawmakers that “there is a crisis of confidence in our federal judiciary,” one that “is the result of a number of overlapping failures, but chief among them is the judiciary’s apparent inability to abide by the rules of ethical conduct their high office requires.”

One step to address the ethics problem is “banning judges and their families from buying and owning individual stocks,” said Sherman, calling it “the simplest way to address the financial conflicts that are undermining our judicial system.”

Originally published at Commondreams.org, written by Andrea Germanos.