'Really Shocking': Dem Senator Amazed By Free Trips And Gifts Given To Supreme Court Justices

6 months ago

In remarks on the Senate floor last week, Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) spoke about Supreme Court ethics reforms.

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Transcript

00:00Mr. President, my colleagues on the Republican side have made the assertion

00:07that this legislation would interfere with the independence of the judiciary.

00:13That's a serious assertion and it deserves to be respected and responded

00:19to. The judiciary is an absolutely vital branch of government that is independent.

00:27It is independent in the process by which it makes decisions that come

00:34before it for its decision. That's where it is independent. And as much as I

00:42disagree with many of the decisions of the Supreme Court, that court has the

00:47right, without interference from Congress, to make the decisions it makes. And there

00:52is absolutely nothing in this legislation that interferes with the

00:56judicial power that the court alone exercises in considering cases and

01:02making decisions. There is absolutely nothing. And to suggest by our colleagues

01:07that this legislation would do that is that flat-out wrong. What this

01:13legislation responds to is the conduct of individual justices that is, you know,

01:20frankly, pretty shocking. You get a call. Hey, there's a yacht that needs you

01:26on board. Hey, don't worry about how to get there. We've got a private plane. Hey,

01:34don't worry. If you didn't come, that seat would be unoccupied. And the justice

01:39actually does it. They get on that plane and go and they get on the yacht. Hey, by

01:44the way, we're having a fishing trip. It's in Alaska. It's really cool. Let's go.

01:50There's an empty seat. Why don't you come? It's worth a hundred thousand

01:53dollars, but it doesn't have to be reported. You know, when we talk about a

01:59code of ethics for the Supreme Court, and these are some of the examples of why

02:04it's needed, my constituents in Vermont say, Peter, what are you talking about? A

02:10code of ethics? They can get away with that. They can do that. They can take this

02:14free trip. It's really, really shocking. And you know, my colleague from

02:21Connecticut said it right. The Chief Justice has not only the authority, but

02:25the responsibility to deal with the problems of behavior in his own court.

02:29He's not doing it. He is not doing it. And another point that my colleagues make,

02:37that I'm in a hundred percent agreement with, we need a Supreme Court that has

02:42the credibility and confidence of this country. Because we face very difficult

02:47decisions that are quite contentious and divide America. And when those are

02:52contested and they go to the court, and the court renders a decision that all of

02:57us have to abide by, whether we were on the winning side or the losing side, we

03:02absolutely must have a court that has credibility. And the credibility has to

03:08be, if it's going to be enhanced by the court, by following codes of conduct, by

03:16giving American people confidence that they're on the level. They're not doing

03:23it. These free trips, these private planes, the private yachts, that is just

03:29self-serving and frankly gross. Who has the opportunity to take those trips in

03:36the job they do? By the way, this is an important job they have, but it's a job.

03:40And you know, you do your job, you get your paycheck, you show up for work, you

03:44treat the people you work with decently, but you don't have some expectation

03:48because of the particular job you have, you get free special trips just because

03:53you are, quote, important. That's not part of the deal here. That's not

03:59constitutionally protected. That's not anything to do with the independence of

04:03the judiciary. That is just about venal self-serving conduct by people who

04:08happen to have a lifetime appointment. The other point here that is really

04:12truly shocking and astonishing, we've got over 800 judges, circuit court,

04:17appellate court, bankruptcy judges. They have a code of conduct. They can't do

04:21this. There's only nine folks that can do it and they're on the Supreme Court. They

04:26should have the highest standards that apply to them, self-imposed. They

04:30have no standards. This is the Supreme Court eroding the confidence the public,

04:38all of us, whichever side of the decision we're on, are entitled to have from the

04:43people who have that lifetime appointment and they are squandering it.

04:47They are turning a blind eye to the needs of the people that they serve. So

04:53this ethics legislation is unfortunately necessary because the Supreme Court will

05:00not do what it has the responsibility to do. The Chief Justice of the United

05:06States Supreme Court will not face down colleagues on that court who are just

05:12disregarding normal rules of decency. So I say to the chair of my colleagues and

05:19I say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, all of us should be doing

05:23everything we can to restore confidence in the judiciary. This is

05:28step one. I yield back.

'Really Shocking': Dem Senator Amazed By Free Trips And Gifts Given To Supreme Court Justices

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