两名参议院议员公布了两党立法，要求最高法院在最近围绕克拉伦斯·托马斯大法官的争议中创建一个行为准则。
高等法院是唯一一个没有行为准则的政府部门。周三，缅因州参议员安格斯·金和阿拉斯加州参议员莉萨·穆尔科斯基提出一项法案去改变这一切。
“健康的民主需要信任:对制度的信任、对机构的信任以及对领导人的信任。金在一份声明中说:“美国人应该有信心，他们政府的每一个部门——尤其是美国最高法院——都在以合乎道德的方式行事。”。
穆尔科斯基也说，关键是“公众要充分相信他们的机构在运作，包括司法部门。”
该立法将迫使法院制定一套行为准则，在网上公开发布，并任命一名个人负责处理任何潜在侵权投诉。
然而，它没有规定这些规则应该是什么，而是给法院制定自己的指导方针的权力。
该法院正面临着对托马斯大法官与富有的共和党捐赠者哈兰·克罗关系的新审查。ProPublica据报告的托马斯多年来一直接受捐赠者的豪华旅行和私人旅行，并且没有在年度财务披露文件中报告。
托马斯说，他的理解是，“这种来自亲密私人朋友的私人款待，在法庭上没有业务，是不可报道的。”
这一披露立即遭到了民主党人的谴责。
参议院司法委员会(Senate Judiciary Committee)主席、民主党参议员迪克·德宾将于下周举行听证会，讨论管理九名大法官的道德规则以及对这些规则的可能改革。
德宾邀请首席大法官约翰·罗伯茨出庭作证，并警告罗伯茨“现状已经站不住脚了。”
罗伯茨周二拒绝了邀请，称这种情况“极其罕见”
首席大法官还发给德宾一份五页的声明，由所有九名大法官签署，详细说明了法院的道德和实践。罗伯茨说，尽管没有独立执行这样的规则，他们都遵守它。
在声明中，法官们写道，他们旨在澄清他们如何解决道德问题，称他们期待“司法意见、论文、学术文章、纪律决定以及法院和联邦司法机构的历史实践”或同事的建议。
尚不清楚金和穆尔科斯基的法案是否会在国会获得支持，因为共和党人对托马斯争议的批评较少。参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔。上周，他说他“完全相信”罗伯茨能够处理好法庭上出现的任何内部问题。
New bill would require Supreme Court to create a code of conduct amid recent controversies
Two Senate lawmakers have unveiled bipartisan legislation to require theSupreme Courtcreate a code of conduct amid recent controversies surrounding Justice Clarence Thomas.
The high court is the only branch of government that operates without a code of conduct. Senators Angus King, I-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, on Wednesdayintroduced a billto change that.
"A healthy democracy requires trust: trust in systems, trust in institutions, and trust in leaders. Americans deserve to have confidence that every part of their government -- especially the highest court in the land -- is acting in an ethical manner," King said in a statement.
Murkowski, too, said it's "critical the public has full faith that their institutions are functioning, including the judicial branch."
The legislation would force the court to create a code of conduct, post it publicly online and appoint an individual tasked with handling any complaints of potential violations.
However, it doesn't lay out what those rules should be -- instead giving the court the power to enact its own guidelines.
The U.S. Supreme Court building is seen in Washington, April 6, 2023.
Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters, FILE
The court is facing fresh scrutiny over Justice Thomas' ties to wealthy Republican donor Harlan Crow. ProPublicareportedThomas for years has accepted luxury trips and private travel from the donor and didn't report it on his annual financial disclosure filings.
Thomas has said it's been his understanding that "this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable."
The revelation was met with swift condemnation from Democrats.
Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will hold a hearing next week regarding the ethical rules that govern the nine justices and possible reforms to those rules.
Durbin invited Chief Justice John Roberts to testify, warning Roberts the "status quo is no longer tenable."
Roberts on Tuesday declined the invitation, stating such a scenario would be "exceedingly rare."
The chief justice also sent Durbin a five-page statement signed by all nine justices detailing the court's ethics and practices. Roberts said they all adhere to it, despite there being no independent enforcement of such rules.
In the statement, the justices wrote they aimed to provide clarity on how they address ethical issues, stating they look to "judicial opinions, treatises, scholarly articles, disciplinary decisions, and the historical practice of the court and the federal judiciary" or advice from colleagues.
It's unclear if King and Murkowski's bill will gain traction in Congress, as Republicans have been less critical of the Thomas controversies. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said last week he had "total confidence" in Roberts to handle any internal issues that arise at the court.
