Stench Indeed!

The stench arising from the supreme court is enough to gag anyone with a conscience and a triple digit IQ. Justice Sonia Sotomayor quite correctly complained about the stench of partisanship on our current supreme court, and I am going to expand on that because we have on our hands a problem that undermines the whole concept of the rule of law. As I wrote in a piece I posted on Mac's Back Porch in 2011:

“... the principles for the conduct of judges are set forth in the rules of ethics those judges must follow. If U.S. Supreme Court Justices can ignore those rules and refuse to recuse themselves from cases in which those justices might have a conflict of interest or a bias in favor of one party over another then the right to an impartial hearing and decisions based upon the merits of the case mean nothing. In which case, our entire judicial system is a sham. … T]he real question is not whether Supreme Court Justices must follow the rules of ethics but rather who, if anyone, has the authority to enforce those rules in regard to U.S. Supreme Court Justices. To conclude otherwise would be inconsistent with the most fundamental principles of our judicial system. The good reputation of the Supreme Court and its justices is essential if the people of this country are going to have any faith in the integrity of our courts. This was the argument Chief Justice Earl Warren made to Justice Abe Fortas when Mr. Fortas faced the threat of impeachment over the Wolfson scandal, and it was at least in part why Justice Fortas resigned from the court.

What Abe Fortas did to cause the threat of impeachment was not as egregious as the violations committed by Clarence Thomas. Justice Fortas at least had the good sense to recuse himself from hearing the cases involving Mr. Wofson. Clarence Thomas, on the other hand, heard the Citizens United Case and voted in favor of Citizens United even though Citizens United had contributed $100,000 to help Justice Thomas get confirmed. After receiving valuable gifts from American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Justice Thomas heard three cases involving AEI, and he either sided with AEI or took positions more extreme than AEI in all three of those cases. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Justice Thomas. He has demonstrated an unmistakable pattern of ethical violations that cannot be ignored. The evidence against him is mounting both in regard to the activities of his wife and in regard to his relationship with Harlan Crow, both of which should have caused Justice Thomas to recuse himself from cases he has helped to decide.* Clarence Thomas is the perfect example of why judges must follow the rules of ethics and why Supreme Court Justices cannot be exempt from those rules.”

Amazingly, the pundits are acting like the newest scandal, the seditious and despicable actions of Thomas' wife, are somehow new and oh so surprising, as are the questions the scandal raises about injustice Thomas' ethics and impartiality. Where the hell have those pundits been? Why are they ignoring the history of injustice Thomas' unethical and, most likely, corrupt behavior? The one thing the pundits have right is that injustice Thomas will not be impeached and removed from office. The reason for that is self evident. It is because we now have one party, the Republican Party, that is so morally and intellectually bankrupt that it considers staying in power and imposing its extreme right wing agenda on the rest of us to be more important than the constitution or the rule of law! Moscow Mitch's politicizing and packing the court combined with the brazenly unethical behavior of Clarence Thomas makes it absolutely vital for us to reform this stinking court! We must gain enough seats in congress and the senate to expand the supreme court and make it adopt the very sound rules of ethics that all other judges must follow!

*Thomas' Ethical Entanglements