Saturday, December 21

Tag: Samuel Alito

Will Republicans Defend the Supreme Court?
8Nov By adminNo Comments
Business

Will Republicans Defend the Supreme Court?

Senate Democrats can’t accept that the Supreme Court no longer does their policy bidding, so they’re trying to discredit it. The latest effort is a subpoena threat against the friends of Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.Led by Sheldon Whitehouse and his spokesman Dick Durbin, the Judiciary Committee has been threatening subpoenas against Harlan Crow, Leonard Leo and Robin Arkley II. Their supposed crime: bestowing “lavish, undisclosed gifts” on the Justices, enabling “private access to the justices” while “preventing public scrutiny,” and contributing to a Supreme Court “ethical crisis of its own making.” Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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Mitch McConnell: Subpoenas For Conservative Justices’ Benefactors ‘Totally Inappropriate’
1Nov By adminNo Comments
Politics

Mitch McConnell: Subpoenas For Conservative Justices’ Benefactors ‘Totally Inappropriate’

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday criticized the plan of his Democratic colleagues on the Judiciary Committee to hold a vote to authorize subpoenas for three conservative benefactors of Supreme Court justices as part of the panel’s ethics investigation into the high court.Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who leads the committee, along with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), announced they intend to subpoena Texas billionaire Harlan Crow, conservative activist Leonard Leo and Republican donor Robin Arkley II for information over their ties to right-leaning Supreme Court justices.But McConnell thinks the move is wrong.“What he’s targeting here is private citizens with no legislative purpose,” McConnell told reporters. “I think it’s completely and totally inappropriate.”Durb...
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Senate Democrats Want To Subpoena Harlan Crow Over Ties To Clarence Thomas
31Oct By adminNo Comments
Politics

Senate Democrats Want To Subpoena Harlan Crow Over Ties To Clarence Thomas

Republican Texas billionaire Harlan Crow could soon receive a subpoena to produce information about his relationship with conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as the Judiciary Committee steps up its ethics probe into the high court.Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin (Ill.), who chairs the panel, and Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), who heads a subcommittee on federal courts, oversight, agency action, and federal rights, on Monday announced they would hold a vote to authorize subpoenas for Crow, conservative legal activist Leonard Leo and GOP donor Robin Arkley II.Durbin and Whitehouse said the three men “either refused to comply or offered to produce certain limited information that fell well short of what the Committee needs” when previously asked to cooperate voluntarily.“By accepting...
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Elena Kagan At Odds With Samuel Alito Over Supreme Court Ethics Reform
4Aug By adminNo Comments
Politics

Elena Kagan At Odds With Samuel Alito Over Supreme Court Ethics Reform

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan on Thursday said the high court is “not imperial,” apparently distancing herself from the view that Congress has no business in establishing ethics rules for justices.Justice Samuel Alito last month told The Wall Street Journal that “no provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court — period,” referring to Congress. The comments came after several ethical controversies over his decision to accept a lavish trip and private jet travel without disclosing it.While Kagan emphasized her remarks were not meant as a rebuttal of Alito’s comments, she noted there are a number of actions that Congress could take to police justices, citing for instance that Congress is responsible for funding the court.“It just can’t be that the ...
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Chris Murphy Blasts Samuel Alito For Opposing SCOTUS Reform
31Jul By adminNo Comments
Politics

Chris Murphy Blasts Samuel Alito For Opposing SCOTUS Reform

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) blasted conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Sunday for claiming that Congress has no authority to create a code of conduct for the high court, which has been embroiled in ethics controversies.Senate Democrats have been considering implementing a code of conduct to hold the court to higher ethics standards, as is done for the congressional and executive branches of the federal government. But on Friday, Alito told The Wall Street Journal that lawmakers should stop trying to impose new rules on the justices.“No provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court ― period,” Alito said of the lawmakers. He added that “the organized bar” of lawyers would normally defend the court against its critics, but that has not l...
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The Senate Judiciary Panel Will Consider Ethics Rules For The Supreme Court
20Jul By adminNo Comments
Politics

The Senate Judiciary Panel Will Consider Ethics Rules For The Supreme Court

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote Thursday on a new ethics code for the Supreme Court, an attempt to respond to recent revelations about justices’ interactions with wealthy donors and others. Republicans are strongly opposed, arguing the ethics bill could “destroy” the high court.The committee’s legislation would impose new ethics rules on the court and a process to enforce them, including new standards for transparency around recusals, gifts and potential conflicts of interest. Democrats first pushed the legislation after reports earlier this year that Justice Clarence Thomas participated in luxury vacations and a real estate deal with a top GOP donor — and after Chief Justice John Roberts declined to testify before the committee about the ethics of the...
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