(FixThisNation.com) – The Supreme Court stated that they would be looking to adopt a code of conduct following the recent criticisms that have arisen about the Justices having accepted trips and gifts that they did not disclose in their financial disclosures in the past few decades.
The justices wrote in a statement that was released along with the 15-page code that the majority of the principles and rules in the document are nothing “new.” However, as they said the new document will codify the principles that are already in place and will help clear some of the concerns that exist regarding the fact that no one has oversight of the high court.
In the statement, they noted that the lack of a Code has led to a misunderstanding over the last few years about the Court Justices regarding “themselves as unrestricted by any ethics rules.” To clear up that misunderstanding they are putting out this Code, which for the most part is simply a codification of the governing conduct that they have followed for years.
Under the new code, there are five “canons” that all the justices will agree to follow. One relates to how impropriety should not have any place in activities, meaning that none of the relations of the officials should affect their judgment. There are also specific instances included in the code where justices will be required to decline to speak at certain events.
The recent code comes after several reports regarding how the Supreme Court’s Justices had received various luxury trips and gifts that they had not disclosed. This led to many calling for oversight over the justices to be established.
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