Brookings: “Recent revelations of Justice Clarence Thomas’s rocky relationship with gift and income reporting rules have heightened attention to the arcane and often misunderstood federal judicial ethics regime and quickened the drumbeat for a Supreme Court code of conduct. My goal in this post is to (1) summarize the statutes and rules that govern federal judge’s and justices’ acceptance and reporting of gifts, (2) assess Justice Thomas’s compliance and (3) review the responses to Thomas’s case and broader calls for tightened judicial ethics enforcement — principally the feasibility of policing alleged violations through a Supreme Court code of conduct. Controversy over Justice Thomas is one of many swirling about the Court. Claims, vigorously denied, of a leaked 2014 opinion and private efforts to curry favor with some justices; controversy around the investigation of the leaked opinion in last year’s abortions case; and numerous controversies about Justice Thomas’s spouse are an incomplete list…”

• See also POGO Calls for DOJ to Investigate Clarence Thomas, Seek Civil Penalties & via POGO – Model Code of Conduct for U.S. Supreme Court Justices: “Of all the country’s state and federal courts, only the Supreme Court lacks a code of conduct. Instead, existing rules found in the U.S. Code provide standards concerning financial disclosures and recusals. But this set of standards is limited. And compliance with them, along with all other decisions related to ethical conduct, is left to each Justice’s discretion.”
• See also Salon – “When does the stench get bad enough?”: Democrats call for action on new Clarence Thomas revelations. It was recently reported that Thomas’ benefactor Harlan Crow also paid for the private school of Thomas’ relative
• See also Vox – The real reason for the Supreme Court’s corruption crisis. Who watches the philosopher kings with lifetime appointments?