Late Tuesday, ProPublica, the same nonprofit news organization that broke the story about Justice Clarence Thomas accepting stuff he shouldn’t have from a billionaire he became friends with only after he became a Supreme Court justice, put the spotlight on Justice Samuel Alito. If you were shocked by the Thomas story, you’ll be outraged by the report on Alito.
I think Joyce is right: Alito and Thomas (and probably a few other justices) really don't care about the court or about public opinion. Entitlement and arrogance are way more profitable than legal skills and ethics.
Wow! The Supreme Court was always “the court of last resort.” Now, it is clear that their actions place them at the low end of justice and the notion that “no one is above the law.”
How can our democracy and constitutional laws survive in the face of this court’s totally unethical conduct with no accountability? Yes! This is a serious question.
How, indeed John, can our democracy survive all this corruption with no accountability? Our institutions need reform. These corrupt justices are part of a good ole boys' network. Does ANYONE think that a billionaire who would try to seize a naval vessel from a foreign government, would expect nothing in return for those costly vacations?! What rubbish! Alito knew it was wrong to accept those trips that's why he did not disclose them. Staying clean is hard with all those delightful temptations swirling around. Singer and his ilk--robber barons all.
By the way, "conservative think tank" is an oxymoron. Since conservatism is selfishness personified, and selfishness is a human trait, what "thinking" is required?
"By the way, "conservative think tank" is an oxymoron. Since conservatism is selfishness personified, and selfishness is a human trait, what "thinking" is required?"
No one is immune from human frailties. The lust for power, greed for all things gilded, to be above your fellow humans making yourself a legend in your own mind. These traits will lay you low, every time. To rise to great power will always and ultimately end in a great fall. #HumptyDumptyAlito.
Totally agree on the misuse of the label think tank! I refer to them as propaganda mills. Propaganda usually has a negative connotation unlike the word think!
Perhaps your reference to ‘the low end of Justice’ is better describe as ‘the low end of the cesspool of greed’! There is no ‘Justice’ emanating from Roberts’ stench court!
Jay Kuo of Status Kuo Substack suggested that it seems obvious that Alito was the leak to the Wall Street Journal of the abortion decision, since he clearly has a close relationship with the WSJ editorial board since he could get them to publish his piece on a moments notice. The way he handled the situation with ProPublica was appalling. Alito is a poor liar and he is sleaze personified!
Linda, It’s Jay Kuo of the Kuo Substack. I love him also and I read about the “Alito leak”....seems pretty clear. That also has gone “unpunished”, not to mention the illegality of overturning a fifty year established federal law. We are in deep doo doo with this Court. It must be expanded as soon as practicable.....though I know how hard that will be.
To which I say, now what? McConnell is threatening to stand in the way of meaningful legislation by holding up Biden’s nominations or some such bullshit. Schumer is clueless, and where’s Nancy when we need her...do you think Schumer could possibly take a page from her playbook? Seems like we’re toast!
Laurie, not to digress, but Justice Elena Kagan refused to accept bagels and lox as a gift from her classmates to avoid the appearance of anything unethical. Justice Ketanji Brown has only been there a short time, but I can’t imagine her being dishonest or unethical. And finally, Justice Sotomayor, who has eloquently defended the Constitution in her role on the Court. We must expand the SCOTUS while the Dems have some sway.
Elisabeth, yes, we're lucky to have these splendid women on the court. I'm truly sad that so many people agreed w/ my first comment above; I was hoping other people were more positive and optimistic than I feel about the other justices. A tragedy for our country to have these supremely unqualified, ultra-conservative justices setting the rules for our country, likely for decades to come.
Preemptively responding with an opinion piece that seeks to obfuscate ProPublica's fine reporting in the authoritarian friendly Wall Street Journal would indicate concern. Sadly, there's not enough shame on earth to bow these petty, pathetic anti-democratic miscreants.
And yet astonishingly, public approval has remained steady at 39% after the initial drop after the overturning of Roe. All this corruption on the Supreme Court has been uncovered in the last year and yet as PBS The Newshour reported, it seems to have had no impact on the approval rating which has not budged.
We have to remember that only a small fraction of actual and potential voters follow politics/governance closely. Very few of my friends do, even those who write Postcards to Voters or are part of Indivisible, etc. I remember hearing that people who couldn't name a single Supreme Court justice could tell you all about Judge Judy. Most people start paying closer attention just a few months or weeks before an election. I wish it were different, but it's not.
If it looks like a fish. . .ProPublica has just scratched the surface of the SCOTUS Swamp. Keep casting your line, ProPublica. There are plenty more fish to catch, and conservative justices to expose. Thanks Joyce.
The details of Justices Thomas, Alito and Scalia's trips show not only the appearance of unethical behavior but the elitism and entitlement of these men. It's also interesting that it's the male justices who let billionaires pay for expensive outings without reporting them. Congress needs to write legislation to force some accountability on the justices. All other professionals have ethics codes that must be adhered to. It's time that this also applies to the Supreme Court.
Congress might need to write legislation to force some accountability is the farthest thing from their minds as they vote to censure Adam Schiff for upholding to constitutional oath he took. This censure is, as the Democrats stated “shameful.”
I think the Supremes will have a hard time arguing that the drafters of the Constitution intended the Court to be accountable to no one. I look forward to Gorsuch and the other "originalists" trying to come up with a justification.
Patricia, what about Roberts’ wife earning millions over ten years pairing high fi lawyers with right wing law firms? They are all in on the “take”. Sickening....
Agreed that Congress needs to write some ethics legislation. I am waiting for my state Senator Durbin of Illinois, who is Chair of the Senate Judiciary committee to take some action with teeth in it to define the role of the supreme court members' ethical code.
Linda, I did write to Senator Durbin after the Pro Publica report on Clarence Thomas. Here is his response:
Thank you for contacting me about ethics concerns for Supreme Court justices and reforming the Supreme Court. I appreciate hearing from you.
The Supreme Court has become increasingly politicized. This was shown in the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, when its radical majority ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, reversing decades of precedent, and taking away what had been a woman’s constitutional right to make her own decisions about her body.
In addition to the Court’s politicization, valid concerns also have been raised about the lack of a judicial code of ethics for Supreme Court justices. Without this, the Court’s justices can choose whether or not to recuse themselves from cases where they have potential conflicts of interest.
There also have been calls to impeach Supreme Court justices for accusations of misconduct and allegations that they lied under oath about their views on past decisions. The removal of federal officials by impeachment is one of the most serious constitutional responsibilities delegated to Congress. The Constitution grants the House of Representatives the authority to determine whether to impeach and draft articles of impeachment. If the House votes to impeach an official, a trial is then held in the Senate, where two-thirds of the Senate must vote to convict for a justice to be removed. The House has not voted to move forward with articles of impeachment for any current Supreme Court justices.
In the 117th Congress, several bills to reform the Supreme Court were introduced. These include the Judiciary Act of 2021 (S. 1141), which would have expanded the Supreme Court by adding four seats, and the Supreme Court Tenure Establishment and Retirement Modernization (TERM) Act of 2022 (S. 4706), which would have established 18-year term limits for Supreme Court justices. These bills were referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, but they did not receive votes before the end of the 117th Congress.
This Congress, I am a cosponsor of the Supreme Court Ethics Act (S. 325) and the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act of 2023 (S. 359). The Supreme Court Ethics Act, introduced by Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, would create a binding judicial code of ethics for the Supreme Court. This bill would extend the Code of Conduct for United States Judges to Supreme Court justices, and require the justices to abide by the same ethical standards as all other federal judges.
The SCERT Act, introduced by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, would require the Supreme Court to adopt a code of conduct for justices and employees and more rigorous financial disclosure rules for justices, clerks, and parties who submit briefs to the Court. This legislation also would create new recusal standards for the entire federal judiciary.
These bills were referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which I serve as Chair. I will keep your thoughts in mind as the committee considers these bills, and I will continue striving to maintain the integrity of the Supreme Court and the honesty of those who serve.
Thank you again for contacting me. Please feel free to keep in touch.
We need expand the court and have term limits.... to do that we have to have majorities in both houses. The GOP, sorry to say this, are basically cheaters if not crooks, but they show how to not do this: the government needs to keep itself clean legitimately. This will be called weaponizing the government. Let it be so called but as Trump says, we have to take back our country.....eliminating him as well.
There already exist Codes of Ethics in both chambers of Congress. It just needs a majority in both Houses, or better yet some honest politicians to enforce them.
YES! We need to, each of us, demand of our Congress people and Senators that they enforce ethics and other behavioral standards. In other words, they need to represent their Constituents, not their party and National Campaign Committees.
That was not clear to me, but when I listened to a ProPublica podcast after the first story about Justice Thomas broke, the journalists were talking process, and it seems it is their process to share the story that the person is about with them. After receiving it he declined to comment and instead wrote a quick rebuttal pre story in the WSJ. I think Jay Kuo also said that he was given the story, but he might have said that Alito declined to respond to questions from ProPublica.
That is my understanding that Justice Alito refused to respond to ProPublica, but wrote his rebuttal to another paper. Great story with great writers. I am sad that some of our Supreme Court Justices have been compromised by rich men. How did these two vote on Roe? Since the conservatives wanted to strip women from their right to choose.
Yes. So Sleazy! So far, according to ProPublica 4 people on that court are clearly compromised and all 4 of them voted to overturn Roe v Wade. That would be Chief Justice Roberts, whose wife has gotten fees millions of dollars of fees from law firms that have cases before the court. Then we have Justices Gorsuch and Thomas, and now Alito. That is 4 people whose resignation I demanded today.
Now I just read about Amy Coney Barrett having a shady dealing, and I am going to write to Chief Justice Roberts again tomorrow demanding that she be asked to resign.
This corruption is all unacceptable as a citizen and taxpayer I demand their resignations. I wish others would join me. Here is Chief Justice Robert's phone email
Unless we gain control of both the House and the Senate in 2024 you can forget about expansion. This cannot be done by Executive order. Plus the Court would have to be expanded to 13 in order to regain balance.
Isn't it interesting that these are all "conservative" justices? What is it in the "conservatives" brains that allows them to act like loose cannons regardless of what positions they have been given?
Loved your title’s allusion to one of the great literary works of the 20th Century: “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” Alito’s Alaska trip was his initiation into the Billionaire Boys Club, his grooming, as it were, by the Malefactors of Great Wealth, an exotic freebie orchestrated by the ubiquitous Leonard Leo, who had just promoted Alito for the Court with the help of lots of dark money.
I too am willing to take unoccupied seats on your private jet when it’s flying off to dream destinations. In addition, count me in when you have an otherwise unoccupied chair at exclusive gourmet restaurants or expensive gifts that otherwise would have no recipient.
There is an old joke about the ‘curse of the klopman Diamond which applies here.
When his soon to be trophy wife was asked about the magnificent ring, she replied indeed it is beautiful but curse is that it comes with the odious Mr Klopman!
Would really want to be associated with those destroying our experiment with democracy!?
Where once such actions would be furiously condemned, now it is business as usual. ( at least for the MAGA GOP) America is in need of a renaissance. TFG is a big fish that is swimming in an ocean of corruption.
I just suggested that we demand their resignation. Of course women marched in Iran and other than being killed not much happened except some slight loosening up of their dress code, while many were murdered by the government. Youth marched in China and while many went to prison, some changes were made. China opened up from their zero covid policy. In France they marched against raising the retirement age two years, and were ignored. No one was killed by the government over that. However, they are not done marching. They have a lame duck president, who knows he will not have another term, so he steamrolled this in. I know in Germany when people march and protest in anger, 1) they tend to not give up easily, although the fight about reopening a coal factory was lost in the short term, and 2) the government grows uneasy when people march daily and do political nuisance things like gluing themselves to the street with super glue so that they block traffic, because it endangers others like preventing ambulances and fire trucks from getting through. But, the government, without seeming to give in, will look for ways to shift policy so that the people are not uncontrollably angered. The question remains, how angry is the average American at this revealed corruption? Those of us on this Substack, and reading ProPublica tend to be more politically interested than the average person. Right now, I would say that most people probably don't even know about it, unless they read some source of news. Of course, I don't watch US television, so I don't know whether it was on the TV news. That would reach a larger audience. I assume the Foxlets do not care what a proRepublican InJustice does to break the law, since they don't seem to care about it when Trump does it either.
There was a march this past weekend. I have no idea how to gather people for a march.
Must study. I hear you. I would not want to stop an ambulance or police trying to go help someone. We must march peacefully, we must call and write our Democratic Congresspersons, we must share the ProPublica article because I was not aware. I stop looking at the News and decided to pray instead. So much violence. The movies, TV violent shows, violent games are teaching reactions to anger. Poor children, they don't know the difference. They do violent things and wonder why they are getting in trouble since their TV heroes kill, steal, are corrupt & destroy each day. Taught behavior. A change must come.
I have written Chief Justice Roberts, asking that he resign and ask Gorsuch, Thomas and Alito to resign too, as the only honorable thing left for them to do. Here is his contact information. https://www.johnroberts.com/contact
Thank you so very much. I am so happy that so many people are tired of the corruption. I know I am. Enough is enough. I don't want my grandchildren to think that any of this is okay.
“I spent close to 30 years, if not more, helping to build the conservative legal movement,” Leo said in a video for the organization at the heart of his strategy, the Teneo Network. “And at some point or another, I just said to myself, ‘If this can work for law, why can’t it work for lots of other areas of American culture and American life where things are really messed up right now?’” That includes “wokeism in the corporate environment, in the educational environment,” biased media and “entertainment that is really corrupting our youth.” (NYTimes)
Thanks again for the detailed description of this mess, Joyce.
The thing that really gets me is the justices that are taking advantage (putting it mildly) of their positions on the court are also the same justices who are taking a “holier than thou” attitude when it comes to crushing a woman’s right to choose.😡. Prayers and peace?
When is the Treasury Department (IRS) going to investigate these justices? The Federalist Society members have been buying off these justices for a long time! It is disgusting and their strategies and $$$$ have corrupted SCOTUS!
Thank you for your question! I've been wondering about an urgently needed IRS inquiry into the not so supreme Justices for some time. Also Kushner and Ivanka. There is a new Director of the IRS. Hopefully he will not wait much longer to begin the investigations.
They need to look at Judge A. Raymond Randolph, a Sr. Judge for the DC Circuit who was also on one of the trips. Need to check on Robin Arkley II, and last but not least Paul Singer, all mentioned in the full-article at ProPublica. My new news outlet after Joyce Vance, of course.
I get the strong feeling that they don’t give a rats ass what people think or how it looks. They are above the law that applies to regular people. They answer to no one.
Paul Singer is the kind of guy who puts the screws to a country that suffered from a financial crisis caused in part by guys like Paul Singer (and the IMF). Over half of Argentina was unemployed at the height of the crisis. And, as ProPublica pointed out, most creditors settled with the country. But Singer needed that $2 billion. It wouldn't surprise me if this guy kicked puppies. But Alito is friends with him. Unsurprisingly.
I was raised to never hate anyone, but I am struggling mightily to apply that teaching to some members of this court. I’m off to sleep tonight quoting my grandmother who, when absolutely exasperated, said “well, forevermore”.. I’m going to try to keep it at that and hope we see some change. I am grateful for this community. Thanks, Joyce, and all y’all.
Good, no hate. We must remember that the evil one wants us to hate. Evil gets stronger when hate, anger, and other negatives are present. Prayer is the key. The Almighty has this.
Exposing all the darkness in the Light of the truth.
I think Joyce is right: Alito and Thomas (and probably a few other justices) really don't care about the court or about public opinion. Entitlement and arrogance are way more profitable than legal skills and ethics.
Wow! The Supreme Court was always “the court of last resort.” Now, it is clear that their actions place them at the low end of justice and the notion that “no one is above the law.”
How can our democracy and constitutional laws survive in the face of this court’s totally unethical conduct with no accountability? Yes! This is a serious question.
How, indeed John, can our democracy survive all this corruption with no accountability? Our institutions need reform. These corrupt justices are part of a good ole boys' network. Does ANYONE think that a billionaire who would try to seize a naval vessel from a foreign government, would expect nothing in return for those costly vacations?! What rubbish! Alito knew it was wrong to accept those trips that's why he did not disclose them. Staying clean is hard with all those delightful temptations swirling around. Singer and his ilk--robber barons all.
By the way, "conservative think tank" is an oxymoron. Since conservatism is selfishness personified, and selfishness is a human trait, what "thinking" is required?
"By the way, "conservative think tank" is an oxymoron. Since conservatism is selfishness personified, and selfishness is a human trait, what "thinking" is required?"
Yes!!!
No one is immune from human frailties. The lust for power, greed for all things gilded, to be above your fellow humans making yourself a legend in your own mind. These traits will lay you low, every time. To rise to great power will always and ultimately end in a great fall. #HumptyDumptyAlito.
Do you really think so? As far as I can tell, there has been no holding any of the InJustices accountable for anything.
Exactly!
My mother said,"Your sins WILL find you out."
Totally agree on the misuse of the label think tank! I refer to them as propaganda mills. Propaganda usually has a negative connotation unlike the word think!
Your final paragraph is profound -- and all too true.
John, our democracy cannot survive. It is an URGENT question!
Perhaps your reference to ‘the low end of Justice’ is better describe as ‘the low end of the cesspool of greed’! There is no ‘Justice’ emanating from Roberts’ stench court!
Yes, it gives new meaning to the words "last resort", as in fishing resorts!
However, the greed driven mega billionaires seem to find more and more ways to influence those unethical occupiers of a seat on the court!
And not only that: they use those inJustices to MAKE more billions.
That would be the point, wouldn’t it? Ugh.
I ponder the same. Without serious and swift court reform, America is doomed to fall further into the hands of fascism and oligarchy.
Jay Kuo of Status Kuo Substack suggested that it seems obvious that Alito was the leak to the Wall Street Journal of the abortion decision, since he clearly has a close relationship with the WSJ editorial board since he could get them to publish his piece on a moments notice. The way he handled the situation with ProPublica was appalling. Alito is a poor liar and he is sleaze personified!
Linda, It’s Jay Kuo of the Kuo Substack. I love him also and I read about the “Alito leak”....seems pretty clear. That also has gone “unpunished”, not to mention the illegality of overturning a fifty year established federal law. We are in deep doo doo with this Court. It must be expanded as soon as practicable.....though I know how hard that will be.
Alito’s arrogance cannot even be measured!
To which I say, now what? McConnell is threatening to stand in the way of meaningful legislation by holding up Biden’s nominations or some such bullshit. Schumer is clueless, and where’s Nancy when we need her...do you think Schumer could possibly take a page from her playbook? Seems like we’re toast!
"Alito is a poor liar and he is sleaze personified!"
How long will it take me to have my opinion posted on the editorial pages of the WSJ? 12 hours? I'm sure!!
Laurie, not to digress, but Justice Elena Kagan refused to accept bagels and lox as a gift from her classmates to avoid the appearance of anything unethical. Justice Ketanji Brown has only been there a short time, but I can’t imagine her being dishonest or unethical. And finally, Justice Sotomayor, who has eloquently defended the Constitution in her role on the Court. We must expand the SCOTUS while the Dems have some sway.
Elisabeth, yes, we're lucky to have these splendid women on the court. I'm truly sad that so many people agreed w/ my first comment above; I was hoping other people were more positive and optimistic than I feel about the other justices. A tragedy for our country to have these supremely unqualified, ultra-conservative justices setting the rules for our country, likely for decades to come.
With your permission, I'm posting your comments on FB.
OK.
Preemptively responding with an opinion piece that seeks to obfuscate ProPublica's fine reporting in the authoritarian friendly Wall Street Journal would indicate concern. Sadly, there's not enough shame on earth to bow these petty, pathetic anti-democratic miscreants.
And yet astonishingly, public approval has remained steady at 39% after the initial drop after the overturning of Roe. All this corruption on the Supreme Court has been uncovered in the last year and yet as PBS The Newshour reported, it seems to have had no impact on the approval rating which has not budged.
We have to remember that only a small fraction of actual and potential voters follow politics/governance closely. Very few of my friends do, even those who write Postcards to Voters or are part of Indivisible, etc. I remember hearing that people who couldn't name a single Supreme Court justice could tell you all about Judge Judy. Most people start paying closer attention just a few months or weeks before an election. I wish it were different, but it's not.
If it looks like a fish. . .ProPublica has just scratched the surface of the SCOTUS Swamp. Keep casting your line, ProPublica. There are plenty more fish to catch, and conservative justices to expose. Thanks Joyce.
The details of Justices Thomas, Alito and Scalia's trips show not only the appearance of unethical behavior but the elitism and entitlement of these men. It's also interesting that it's the male justices who let billionaires pay for expensive outings without reporting them. Congress needs to write legislation to force some accountability on the justices. All other professionals have ethics codes that must be adhered to. It's time that this also applies to the Supreme Court.
Congress might need to write legislation to force some accountability is the farthest thing from their minds as they vote to censure Adam Schiff for upholding to constitutional oath he took. This censure is, as the Democrats stated “shameful.”
John, But the court seems to hold that congress has zero jurisdiction over their conduct! So who does?
I think the Supremes will have a hard time arguing that the drafters of the Constitution intended the Court to be accountable to no one. I look forward to Gorsuch and the other "originalists" trying to come up with a justification.
Patricia, what about Roberts’ wife earning millions over ten years pairing high fi lawyers with right wing law firms? They are all in on the “take”. Sickening....
Agreed that Congress needs to write some ethics legislation. I am waiting for my state Senator Durbin of Illinois, who is Chair of the Senate Judiciary committee to take some action with teeth in it to define the role of the supreme court members' ethical code.
Linda, I did write to Senator Durbin after the Pro Publica report on Clarence Thomas. Here is his response:
Thank you for contacting me about ethics concerns for Supreme Court justices and reforming the Supreme Court. I appreciate hearing from you.
The Supreme Court has become increasingly politicized. This was shown in the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, when its radical majority ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, reversing decades of precedent, and taking away what had been a woman’s constitutional right to make her own decisions about her body.
In addition to the Court’s politicization, valid concerns also have been raised about the lack of a judicial code of ethics for Supreme Court justices. Without this, the Court’s justices can choose whether or not to recuse themselves from cases where they have potential conflicts of interest.
There also have been calls to impeach Supreme Court justices for accusations of misconduct and allegations that they lied under oath about their views on past decisions. The removal of federal officials by impeachment is one of the most serious constitutional responsibilities delegated to Congress. The Constitution grants the House of Representatives the authority to determine whether to impeach and draft articles of impeachment. If the House votes to impeach an official, a trial is then held in the Senate, where two-thirds of the Senate must vote to convict for a justice to be removed. The House has not voted to move forward with articles of impeachment for any current Supreme Court justices.
In the 117th Congress, several bills to reform the Supreme Court were introduced. These include the Judiciary Act of 2021 (S. 1141), which would have expanded the Supreme Court by adding four seats, and the Supreme Court Tenure Establishment and Retirement Modernization (TERM) Act of 2022 (S. 4706), which would have established 18-year term limits for Supreme Court justices. These bills were referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, but they did not receive votes before the end of the 117th Congress.
This Congress, I am a cosponsor of the Supreme Court Ethics Act (S. 325) and the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act of 2023 (S. 359). The Supreme Court Ethics Act, introduced by Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, would create a binding judicial code of ethics for the Supreme Court. This bill would extend the Code of Conduct for United States Judges to Supreme Court justices, and require the justices to abide by the same ethical standards as all other federal judges.
The SCERT Act, introduced by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, would require the Supreme Court to adopt a code of conduct for justices and employees and more rigorous financial disclosure rules for justices, clerks, and parties who submit briefs to the Court. This legislation also would create new recusal standards for the entire federal judiciary.
These bills were referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which I serve as Chair. I will keep your thoughts in mind as the committee considers these bills, and I will continue striving to maintain the integrity of the Supreme Court and the honesty of those who serve.
Thank you again for contacting me. Please feel free to keep in touch.
Sincerely,
Richard J. Durbin
United States Senator
Thanks for this, Gail. I will also write to Senator Durbin to encourage the expansion of the court and term limits. Also the ethics issues.
We need expand the court and have term limits.... to do that we have to have majorities in both houses. The GOP, sorry to say this, are basically cheaters if not crooks, but they show how to not do this: the government needs to keep itself clean legitimately. This will be called weaponizing the government. Let it be so called but as Trump says, we have to take back our country.....eliminating him as well.
...and the ethics issues!
There already exist Codes of Ethics in both chambers of Congress. It just needs a majority in both Houses, or better yet some honest politicians to enforce them.
Isn't that kinda the crux of the matter in general? There are plenty of laws but little to no enforcement.
YES! We need to, each of us, demand of our Congress people and Senators that they enforce ethics and other behavioral standards. In other words, they need to represent their Constituents, not their party and National Campaign Committees.
Rumor has it that the ‘code of ethics’ is written in documents buried with Noah’s ark!
Sadly, some might say that ‘honest politician’ is an oxymoron!
Yes, "honest politicians"!
He is my Senator as well. I have written to him several times. I'm still waiting for him to use his Chair position and take action.
Does he know about the ProPublica full article?
That was not clear to me, but when I listened to a ProPublica podcast after the first story about Justice Thomas broke, the journalists were talking process, and it seems it is their process to share the story that the person is about with them. After receiving it he declined to comment and instead wrote a quick rebuttal pre story in the WSJ. I think Jay Kuo also said that he was given the story, but he might have said that Alito declined to respond to questions from ProPublica.
That is my understanding that Justice Alito refused to respond to ProPublica, but wrote his rebuttal to another paper. Great story with great writers. I am sad that some of our Supreme Court Justices have been compromised by rich men. How did these two vote on Roe? Since the conservatives wanted to strip women from their right to choose.
Yes. So Sleazy! So far, according to ProPublica 4 people on that court are clearly compromised and all 4 of them voted to overturn Roe v Wade. That would be Chief Justice Roberts, whose wife has gotten fees millions of dollars of fees from law firms that have cases before the court. Then we have Justices Gorsuch and Thomas, and now Alito. That is 4 people whose resignation I demanded today.
https://newrepublic.com/post/172304/congress-known-john-robertss-wifes-shady-financial-dealings-months
Now I just read about Amy Coney Barrett having a shady dealing, and I am going to write to Chief Justice Roberts again tomorrow demanding that she be asked to resign.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/coney-barrett-real-estate-deal
All of these people voted to overturn Roe.
This corruption is all unacceptable as a citizen and taxpayer I demand their resignations. I wish others would join me. Here is Chief Justice Robert's phone email
https://www.johnroberts.com/contact
Unless we gain control of both the House and the Senate in 2024 you can forget about expansion. This cannot be done by Executive order. Plus the Court would have to be expanded to 13 in order to regain balance.
Yes balance is the key idea, Rebalance the court! Leo the lounge lizard, has already stacked the court!
Isn't it interesting that these are all "conservative" justices? What is it in the "conservatives" brains that allows them to act like loose cannons regardless of what positions they have been given?
Speaking of male justices, women are quite sensitive about being called paid whores. Thomas & Alito wear it as a badge of honor.
Loved your title’s allusion to one of the great literary works of the 20th Century: “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” Alito’s Alaska trip was his initiation into the Billionaire Boys Club, his grooming, as it were, by the Malefactors of Great Wealth, an exotic freebie orchestrated by the ubiquitous Leonard Leo, who had just promoted Alito for the Court with the help of lots of dark money.
Richard you must be a writer. Eloquent, & poetic statement.
You nailed it, Richard. All points.
The title gave me my first chuckle of the day. Might be time to reread some of Adams.
Note to billionaires: Available to travel on short notice whenever there is a free seat on your plane "that would otherwise remain vacant".
Note to Justice Alioto: I believe that Wall Street Murdoch missive was a Whopper; I believe the proper plea is no lo contendere.
I too am willing to take unoccupied seats on your private jet when it’s flying off to dream destinations. In addition, count me in when you have an otherwise unoccupied chair at exclusive gourmet restaurants or expensive gifts that otherwise would have no recipient.
There is an old joke about the ‘curse of the klopman Diamond which applies here.
When his soon to be trophy wife was asked about the magnificent ring, she replied indeed it is beautiful but curse is that it comes with the odious Mr Klopman!
Would really want to be associated with those destroying our experiment with democracy!?
That's a tough one. For a brief trip? Sure.
Me too Connie 👌 but. I wiil pass on the $1000/ bottle wine. 🍷
I would too, Bryan. After all we have standards to uphold.
Yup, no alcohol.
hahahahahahahahahahahaha
A good one. Well, for me they must be a Democrat. I would not want to travel with a Republican.
Where once such actions would be furiously condemned, now it is business as usual. ( at least for the MAGA GOP) America is in need of a renaissance. TFG is a big fish that is swimming in an ocean of corruption.
I just suggested that we demand their resignation. Of course women marched in Iran and other than being killed not much happened except some slight loosening up of their dress code, while many were murdered by the government. Youth marched in China and while many went to prison, some changes were made. China opened up from their zero covid policy. In France they marched against raising the retirement age two years, and were ignored. No one was killed by the government over that. However, they are not done marching. They have a lame duck president, who knows he will not have another term, so he steamrolled this in. I know in Germany when people march and protest in anger, 1) they tend to not give up easily, although the fight about reopening a coal factory was lost in the short term, and 2) the government grows uneasy when people march daily and do political nuisance things like gluing themselves to the street with super glue so that they block traffic, because it endangers others like preventing ambulances and fire trucks from getting through. But, the government, without seeming to give in, will look for ways to shift policy so that the people are not uncontrollably angered. The question remains, how angry is the average American at this revealed corruption? Those of us on this Substack, and reading ProPublica tend to be more politically interested than the average person. Right now, I would say that most people probably don't even know about it, unless they read some source of news. Of course, I don't watch US television, so I don't know whether it was on the TV news. That would reach a larger audience. I assume the Foxlets do not care what a proRepublican InJustice does to break the law, since they don't seem to care about it when Trump does it either.
There was a march this past weekend. I have no idea how to gather people for a march.
Must study. I hear you. I would not want to stop an ambulance or police trying to go help someone. We must march peacefully, we must call and write our Democratic Congresspersons, we must share the ProPublica article because I was not aware. I stop looking at the News and decided to pray instead. So much violence. The movies, TV violent shows, violent games are teaching reactions to anger. Poor children, they don't know the difference. They do violent things and wonder why they are getting in trouble since their TV heroes kill, steal, are corrupt & destroy each day. Taught behavior. A change must come.
I have written Chief Justice Roberts, asking that he resign and ask Gorsuch, Thomas and Alito to resign too, as the only honorable thing left for them to do. Here is his contact information. https://www.johnroberts.com/contact
Thank you so very much. I am so happy that so many people are tired of the corruption. I know I am. Enough is enough. I don't want my grandchildren to think that any of this is okay.
We are in it together.
Thats a wow Linda, super comparative politics with accurate Euro data points. 👌
“You don’t need a weatherman
To know which way the wind blows”
“I spent close to 30 years, if not more, helping to build the conservative legal movement,” Leo said in a video for the organization at the heart of his strategy, the Teneo Network. “And at some point or another, I just said to myself, ‘If this can work for law, why can’t it work for lots of other areas of American culture and American life where things are really messed up right now?’” That includes “wokeism in the corporate environment, in the educational environment,” biased media and “entertainment that is really corrupting our youth.” (NYTimes)
_____Leonard Leo
Hmmm...what would they call someone like Leonard Leo in a movie such as “The Omen”? Ah yes, the “Anti-Christ”.
Ah Leo, what would you have accomplished without the backing of the greed driven mega billionaires money! NOTHING, Leo,Nothing!
How interesting that Leo knows exactly what our country needs? Leo gets the gift monies and buys what a grifter would reach for! How brilliant!
I only took the bribe, because no one else wanted it. Would have been a shame to waste it.
hahahahahahahahahahaha
Thanks again for the detailed description of this mess, Joyce.
The thing that really gets me is the justices that are taking advantage (putting it mildly) of their positions on the court are also the same justices who are taking a “holier than thou” attitude when it comes to crushing a woman’s right to choose.😡. Prayers and peace?
When is the Treasury Department (IRS) going to investigate these justices? The Federalist Society members have been buying off these justices for a long time! It is disgusting and their strategies and $$$$ have corrupted SCOTUS!
The GOP's budget "plan" includes cutting funding for the IRS. Gee, wonder why? 🙄
We are no longer shocked with the corrupt Justices on board.
Thank you for your question! I've been wondering about an urgently needed IRS inquiry into the not so supreme Justices for some time. Also Kushner and Ivanka. There is a new Director of the IRS. Hopefully he will not wait much longer to begin the investigations.
Really? I had not thought of the Treasury Department.
The IRS has a Criminal Investigation unit which investigates crimes of $1 million or more.
They need to look at Judge A. Raymond Randolph, a Sr. Judge for the DC Circuit who was also on one of the trips. Need to check on Robin Arkley II, and last but not least Paul Singer, all mentioned in the full-article at ProPublica. My new news outlet after Joyce Vance, of course.
I get the strong feeling that they don’t give a rats ass what people think or how it looks. They are above the law that applies to regular people. They answer to no one.
They must answer to American people because the American People pay them.
We must say something.
American people pay their salary. Resign or we will find a way to fire you. Write them.
Paul Singer is the kind of guy who puts the screws to a country that suffered from a financial crisis caused in part by guys like Paul Singer (and the IMF). Over half of Argentina was unemployed at the height of the crisis. And, as ProPublica pointed out, most creditors settled with the country. But Singer needed that $2 billion. It wouldn't surprise me if this guy kicked puppies. But Alito is friends with him. Unsurprisingly.
Their old boys club never acknowledged women’s rights in the first place.
Preach!
I was raised to never hate anyone, but I am struggling mightily to apply that teaching to some members of this court. I’m off to sleep tonight quoting my grandmother who, when absolutely exasperated, said “well, forevermore”.. I’m going to try to keep it at that and hope we see some change. I am grateful for this community. Thanks, Joyce, and all y’all.
Good, no hate. We must remember that the evil one wants us to hate. Evil gets stronger when hate, anger, and other negatives are present. Prayer is the key. The Almighty has this.
Exposing all the darkness in the Light of the truth.
Barb McQuade nailed it with Alito! Carry on.
Fishy.
Fishy Fishy Fishy
One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish. No, wait. Red fish, red fish.
🤣🤣🤣