Supreme Court Adopts Ethics Code for Justices Following Scrutiny Over Undisclosed Gifts

The Supreme Court on Monday adopted an ethics code for justices in light of recent scrutiny over undisclosed gifts to two current justices.

A statement from the court attached to the 14-page Code of Conduct states that “for the most part these rules and principles are not new.”

It adds that the absence of a code “has led in recent years to the misunderstanding that the Justices of this Court, unlike all other jurists in this country, regard themselves as unrestricted by any ethics rules.”

“To dispel this misunderstanding, we are issuing this Code, which largely represents a codification of principles that we have long regarded as governing our conduct.”

Among the other rules stated, the most notable subsection is labeled “financial activities,” which calls for justices to “comply with the restrictions on acceptance of gifts and the prohibition on solicitation of gifts set forth in the Judicial Conference Regulations on Gifts now in effect.”