Let’s get ethical
On Thursday, ProPublica reported that Harlan Crow, a billionaire businessman who is friends with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, paid for Thomas’ grandnephew to attend private school for at least two years, and that Thomas failed to disclose it on his financial disclosure reports.
It’s the latest in what has been a series of revelations about Crow’s financial support for Thomas and his family, after a report that Crow footed the bill for luxury vacations and purchased the house where Thomas’ mother lives and poured thousands into its renovations.
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, was not impressed by the reporting.
“All I can say is that the ongoing obsession with Clarence Thomas continues,” Hawley said Thursday. “Next we’ll be reading his receipts from Walmart.”
Asked whether he would accept a friend paying for his children’s education, Hawley said so far, no one has accused Thomas of doing anything wrong.
“All I will say is all of this huffing and puffing and nobody has accused him of committing a crime, committing an ethical violation, committing a reporting violation,” Hawley said.
Several legal ethics experts have said Thomas should have disclosed the trips, real estate transactions and the tuition payments.
Thomas has said he was advised that he didn’t need to include the trips on his financial disclosure forms.
Under a law passed by Congress after the Watergate Scandal, federal officers, including Supreme Court justices, have to report income from any source, gifts and reimbursements (except for entertainment received as personal hospitality from an individual), transactions that exceed $1,000 in real property (except for their personal residence), positions with outside entities, major sources of compensation, blind trusts and arrangements related to other employment.
Democrats think the ethics rules for the Supreme Court should go further. Other federal courts are guided by ethics guidelines called Code of Conduct for United States Judges. They are not considered laws, but instead are considered “aspirational rules.” They do not apply to the Supreme Court.
There’s been proposed legislation to force the Supreme Court to adopt stricter rules and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, led a letter with 14 of his colleagues suggesting that the Senate Appropriations Committee should withhold $10 million from the Supreme Court’s budget unless they adopt stricter policies.
While it’s the highest court in the country, the Supreme Court’s financial disclosure rules are part of a larger patchwork of ethics requirements for judicial branches.
Each state supreme court has its own ethics laws, often determined by the state legislature. Financial Disclosure laws vary by state, but generally judges have to report their compensation, gifts, ownership interests, liabilities and the income of their spouses and dependents.
Around 10 years ago, the Center for Public Integrity did a report on the disclosure requirements for every state in the country. All but eight states received a failing grade, including both Kansas and Missouri.
In Kansas, the Center for Public Integrity found that there were weak requirements for the personal investments of judges. They don’t have to report how much they’re worth on when the judges buy or sell investments. In Missouri, the state doesn’t ask how much judges make outside of their salary and they only have to report gifts of $200 or more.
Even if a state does have strict disclosure requirements, some states like Kansas don’t have meaningful penalties to punish a judge that breaks them. At the federal level, if someone fails to report required information, the U.S. Attorney General can investigate and issue a fine of up to $50,000. In some cases people can be subject to criminal penalties for failing to report information.
Of course, with state supreme courts, the judges tend to be elected and serve for limited terms. With the U.S. Supreme Court, the justices get to serve for life.
There has only been one impeachment trial for a Supreme Court justice in history, in 1804, when Justice Samuel Chase was effectively impeached for being partisan and obnoxious. He was acquitted in the Senate.
Another justice resigned under public pressure — Justice Abe Fortas stepped down in 1969 after it became public that he agreed to receive $20,000 a year retainer for life from Louis Wolfman, a financier, while still serving on the court. Fortas returned the money he received, but stepped down amid the public pressure. He was replaced by Justice Harry Blackmun, who authored the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 and served on the court until 1994.
More from Missouri
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s restrictions on transgender will be blocked for another two months ahead of a trial to determine whether they are constitutional. The rules would prevent trans adults in Missouri from accessing gender affirming care unless they have shown three consecutive years of gender dysphoria and have gone to 15 hourly therapy sessions for 18 months.
Here are headlines from across the state:
Missouri transgender care restrictions blocked for two months after court hearing delayed, Kacen Bayless
AG trying to undermine abortion rights ballot measure, ACLU alleges, Jonathan Shorman and Kacen Bayless
Hawley claims Democrats are intimidating the Supreme Court with push for stricter ethics, Daniel Desrochers
Petition to stop lawmakers from making it harder to amend constitution can move forward, Kacen Bayless
‘It’s literally cost me everything.’ Missouri man gets jail time in Capitol riot case, Judy L. Thomas
And across Kansas
A trial opened up this week to challenge a tactic used by Kansas Highway Patrol known as the “Kansas two step.” It’s when at the end of a traffic stop, the officer takes a few steps away from the car and then comes back to have what they call a “voluntary interaction” with the driver. Officers often use it to stall and give time for drug sniffing dogs to arrive at the scene.
Trial opens against KS Highway Patrol leader over traffic stop tactic, Jonathan Shorman
Why is Congress fighting with the Biden administration over the lesser prairie chicken?, Daniel Desrochers
KCK Democrat delivered key votes for KS Republicans. They steered $250,000 to his project, Katie Bernard
White House calls wave of anti-LGBTQ bills ‘awful.’ But can Biden do anything to stop it?, Daniel Desrochers
‘Swift consequences.’ Will Gov. Kelly sign bill that could put more KS youth behind bars?, Katie Bernard
The latest from Kansas City
In Kansas City …
Britt Adair, ‘torch bearer’ for KC punk scene, dies, David Hudnall
Kansas City teen Jayden Robker told police he was abused before he was found dead, Jenna Thompson
KC civil rights groups blast Brian Platt, Quinton Lucas over firing and City Hall culture, Mike Hendricks
Have a news tip? Send it along to ddesrochers@kcstar.com
Odds and ends
Schmitt’s first bill
Four months into his first term in Congress, Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Missouri Republican, has introduced his first bill.
Schmitt has said throughout the first few months that he hopes to dismantle the administrative state — basically the federal agencies that help the government run. He cites examples like a report that suggested the federal government should consider banning gas stoves.
His bill, which is unlikely to pass a Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate, would require that before administrative agencies can implement a new regulation, they have to repeal three existing regulations.
“This is an important step in reducing the regulatory burden on Missourians and Americans and affecting much needed structural reform,” Schmitt said in his press release announcing the bill. “I will continue to fight to get government off of the backs of Missourians and Americans, and ensure that power is returned to where it belongs: the people.”
There’s a long history of Republican lawmakers going after what they call “red tape” and peeling back administrative regulations to try and eliminate government bureaucracy. But one thing about Schmitt’s bill unveiling stood out — in a press release touting reaction to the bill, his office quoted Tarren Bragdon.
Bragdon is the president and CEO of the Foundation for Government Accountability, a group that has attempted to influence policy in state legislatures across the country, including Missouri and Kansas. It’s also the group that has been behind the push to peel back child labor laws in several states, framing the legislation as part of the effort to free businesses from burdensome government regulations.
LGBTQ rights in court
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach signed onto an amicus brief in the Colorado Supreme Court to support Jack Phillips and his business, Masterpiece Cakeshop, from being forced to make wedding cakes for same-sex weddings.
“Americans enjoy the right not to speak as much as they enjoy the right to speak, and compelling a cake baker to speak in a way that violates his religious beliefs is a textbook violation of the First Amendment,” Bailey said. “My office will use any tool necessary to defend the First Amendment rights of all Missourians.”
You may recognize the name, there was a case in 2018 before the U.S. Supreme Court involving Masterpiece Cakeshop, where the court ruled in Phillips favor on a technicality and avoided weighing in on the larger issue of non-discrimination ordinances intended to defend LGBTQ rights.
Fret not, the U.S. Supreme Court will issue a ruling on a similar case later this year. In December the justices heard arguments in a case involving a Colorado website designer who does not want to design websites for same-sex couples, saying she views her web design as a form of artistic expression.
Happy Friday
Read this about the man who helped create AI turn away to warn against his own creation. It’s the first Saturday in May, which means it’s the Kentucky Derby. Have a mint julep. Listen to this song by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Enjoy your weekend.
Looking for more?
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