"Judicial Ethics and the Supreme Court," 5/10 (W) at noon in person or on Zoom

[Daniel Lake]

 The Institute for Ethics in Public Life presents "Judicial Ethics and the
Supreme Court", a conversation on the recent spate of ethics controversies
involving the U.S. Supreme Court and the unique position of that court as
largely self-policing on ethics issues. This event will happen on
Wednesday, May 10, at noon and can be attended in-person (Hawkins 233) or
on Zoom.

In recent weeks a series of ethics controversies have embroiled the U.S.
Supreme Court. Investigative reporting revealed that Justice Clarence
Thomas had received luxury vacations worth hundreds of thousands of dollars
from a major donor to the Republican Party and conservative causes. Further
investigation revealed that this same donor had purchased a house where
Justice Thomas' mother lives from the Justice without it being properly
disclosed, and had renovated the house while allowing the Justice's mother
to continue to live there. Justice Gorsuch has become embroiled in a
property disclosure scandal of his own when it was revealed that shortly
after being confirmed a property he had been trying to sell for two years
was purchased by a major law firm that routinely appears before the Supreme
Court. Most recently, it was revealed that Chief Justice Roberts' wife had
earned over $10 million in commissions as a legal headhunter for major law
firms (many of which argue before the Court) which were reported as
"salary" on their taxes.

In addition to all being violations of laws regarding financial disclosure,
all of these would be significant breaches of the Code of Conduct of U.S.
Judges if it applied to Supreme Court Justices. But it doesn't.

In this conversation featuring Dr. Raymond Carman of the Political Science
Department we'll be discussing how these actions raise ethical conduct
questions about the Justices involved and what can be done to ensure that
U.S. Supreme Court Justices are bound by an ethical code of conduct similar
to that which binds Federal Judges and other government employees.

*Dr. Ray Carman* joined the SUNY Plattsburgh Department of Political
Science in Fall 2014. His teaching and research interests include the
constitution, courts, judges, and the law. Dr. Carman’s book,* Making Good
Law or Good Policy?: The Causes and Effects of State Supreme Court Judges’
Role Orientations*, draws from political science and social psychology in
order to examine the effect that judicial role orientations—or judges’
beliefs about what should properly be allowed to influence their
decisions—has on judicial decision-making.

Topic: Judicial Ethics dicussion
Time: May 10, 2023 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://plattsburgh.zoom.us/j/97761829296
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Meeting ID: 977 6182 9296
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Meeting ID: 977 6182 9296
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-- 

*Daniel Lake*

(pronouns: he/him/his)

Assoc. Prof.  and Chair of Political Science

Director, Institute for Ethics in Public Life

Hawkins 149E

101 Broad Street
<https://maps.google.com/?q=101+Broad+Street+Plattsburgh,+NY+12901&entry=gmail&source=g>

Plattsburgh, NY 12901
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(o) 518-564-5830 <(518)%5645830>

*plattsburgh.edu <http://plattsburgh.edu/>*
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