Supreme Court justices are not subject to the misconduct rules
Pig Kavanaugh is in, abortion rights and separation of church and state are on the way out.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has received more than a dozen judicial misconduct complaints in recent weeks against Brett M. Kavanaugh, who was confirmed as a Supreme Court justice Saturday, but has chosen for the time being not to refer them to a judicial panel for investigation.
A judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit — the court on which Kavanaugh serves — passed on to Roberts a string of complaints the court received starting three weeks ago, said four people familiar with the matter.
That probably happens with every nominee, right? There are always soreheads.
The situation is highly unusual, said legal experts and several people familiar with the matter. Never before has a Supreme Court nominee been poised to join the court while a fellow judge recommends that misconduct claims against that nominee warrant review.
Oh.
Roberts’s decision not to immediately refer the cases to another appeals court has caused some concern in the legal community. Now that he has been confirmed, the details of the complaints may not become public and instead may be dismissed, legal experts say. Supreme Court justices are not subject to the misconduct rules governing these claims.
“If Justice Roberts sits on the complaints, then they will reside in a kind of purgatory and will never be adjudicated,” said Stephen Gillers, a professor at New York University Law School and an expert on Supreme Court ethics. “This is not how the rules anticipated the process would work.”
Yes but we’re in Trumpworld now, and the rules are whatever he chooses to do.
Henderson, whom President George H.W. Bush nominated to the bench, stepped in to review the complaints against Kavanaugh because Chief Judge Merrick Garland — whose nomination to the Supreme Court by President Barack Obama was blocked by Senate Republicans — recused himself from the matter.
When they go low, we go high, and how’s that working out for us?
I really hope somebody is taken note of all these holes and is planning to fill them.
Too little, too late? In this case. But maybe if, say, tax returns are released automatically when you file as a candidate, or you legally have to give up your businesses, we’ll avoid the next Trump.
Meanwhile, my birthday will forever be the anniversary of the day that B. K. was confirmed to the Supreme Court. Nice birthday present, Congress. Thanks. You should have wrapped it.
I am so angry about this, even though I totally expected it. And Murkowski withdrew her no vote, for a stupid reason, even though it would make no difference. He would have been confirmed anyway. At least her no vote could have stood in its glory, showing that at least one Republican Senator had some integrity. But she had to blow it…
I thought it was possible, but I didn’t actually think would happen. I thought a few people would yield to their conscience and flip to “no” or abstain. I was wrong.
It is becoming painfully clear that the GOP has no conscience. Especially since I suspect a lot of them believed Dr. Ford and had to lie through their teeth to claim otherwise. (Yes, Susan Collins, I don’t believe you could possibly have thought that investigation was ‘thorough’. You’re smarter than that…but apparently just as slimy as the rest).
The thing that leaves me breathless, sweaty and with a sense of incomprehensible dread (other than, you know, just getting up of a morning) is that the UK government clearly aspires to this kind of behaviour and our press all but demand it. Boris Johnson, for example, seems to have enormous influence even though he’s now just a back-bencher. Why? Because he’s a dickhead. That’s what we seem to want.
Our government could have taken Trump as a terrible warning, but it seems instead to think of him as an ideal. Lying, cheating, stealing and treason used to be considered bugs in politicians. Now they’re very definitely features.
@Skeletor #1
I fear that wouldn’t really help. In the end, rules need to be enforced by people. If enough people don’t really care or are motivated enough to ignore the rules, then they can do as they please. No matter what the rules.