Supreme Court Nears Term End Amidst Ethical Debate

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Judicial Conference Review

The U.S. Judicial Conference, the policymaking body for the federal judiciary, released a report on Friday from its closed-door meeting on March 12. This report indicated that the question of whether new ethical guidance is needed has been referred to the Committee on Codes of Conduct.

Examination of Judicial Conduct Rules

Simultaneously, the Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability has been tasked with reviewing whether existing rules should be modified. This review aims to address potential inconsistencies in current policies governing judicial misconduct cases. One rule allows the committee to review orders dismissing misconduct complaints to determine if an investigative committee should be appointed. However, a statute states that a council’s order upholding a chief judge’s dismissal of such a case is final.

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Recent Controversies and Ethical Considerations

These conflicting policies came to light in a decision last year, which ended a misconduct case involving Chief U.S. Circuit Judge William Pryor and U.S. District Judge Corey Maze. Arthur Hellman, a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh, noted that the review’s scope could address other controversies related to clerk hiring practices.

Incident Prompting Review

The current review was prompted by a 2021 letter from seven Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives. They requested an investigation into Pryor and Maze’s decision to hire Crystal Clanton, a former national field director for Turning Point USA, a conservative student group. Clanton was previously reported by journalist Jane Mayer in The New Yorker to have sent a racist text message. Despite her denial of recalling the message and stating it did not reflect her beliefs, the controversy remained.

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Hiring Decisions Under Scrutiny

After leaving Turning Point, Clanton was hired by Ginni Thomas, Justice Thomas’ wife, and later attended George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School. She then secured clerkships with Maze and Pryor, followed by a recommendation from Thomas. Lawmakers argued that if Pryor and Maze knew of Clanton’s past, their hiring decisions could be seen as endorsing discrimination, thereby undermining the judiciary’s integrity.

Judicial Responses and Next Steps

The judges have stated that they determined the claims about Clanton were false before hiring her. The 2nd Circuit initially cleared them of wrongdoing in January 2022. However, in July 2023, the Judicial Conference’s Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability directed the panel to appoint a committee to investigate further. The 2nd Circuit declined to revisit its decision in November 2023, after Pryor and Maze argued that a 2008 rule allowing the national conduct committee to order the circuit council to act conflicted with the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act of 1980.

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