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(The Guardian) 'We're not imperial': Liberal justice Kagan argues Congress does have authority to regulate supreme court
Donald Trump came and went from Washington DC yesterday after pleading not guilty to charges related to trying to overturn the election, but the legacy of his presidency can be found all across the capital, particularly at the supreme court. He decisively shifted its ideological makeup to the right by appointing three conservative justices to the bench, and in the years since, they’ve handed down decisions with major implications for American life, including by overturning Roe v Wade last year and allowing states to fully ban abortion.
But a series of media reports this year have revealed questionable ties between some of the justices and people with interests in their decisions. Senate Democrats are now trying to pass legislation that would require the justices to adopt a code of ethics, and that, too, appears to have been caught up in the court’s ideological split. Last week, conservative justice Samuel Alito said in an interview that Congress has no authority to impose such rules on the court. But at an event yesterday, liberal justice Elena Kagan indicated that she believed lawmakers did indeed have that power.
Kagan told the audiences of judges and lawyers in Portland, Oregon: “It just can’t be that the court is the only institution that somehow is not subject to checks and balances from anybody else. We’re not imperial.”
Justice Kagan’s comments at the Portland conference came soon after a Senate committee voted to advance a bill that would tighten financial disclosures and bolster recusal requirements for justices.
The bill prompted a strong response from conservative Justice Samuel Alito who said lawmakers imposing ethics rules on the court would violate the separation of powers.
But Kagan, who insisted she was not responding directly to Alito’s criticism, said: “Of course, Congress can regulate various aspects of what the supreme court does. Congress funds the supreme court. Congress historically has made changes to the court’s structure and composition. Congress has made changes to the court’s appellate jurisdiction.”
She did insist this did not mean Congress could do whatever it wanted.
Donald Trump came and went from Washington DC yesterday after pleading not guilty to charges related to trying to overturn the election, but the legacy of his presidency can be found all across the capital, particularly at the supreme court. He decisively shifted its ideological makeup to the right by appointing three conservative justices to the bench, and in the years since, they’ve handed down decisions with major implications for American life, including by overturning Roe v Wade last year and allowing states to fully ban abortion.
But a series of media reports this year have revealed questionable ties between some of the justices and people with interests in their decisions. Senate Democrats are now trying to pass legislation that would require the justices to adopt a code of ethics, and that, too, appears to have been caught up in the court’s ideological split. Last week, conservative justice Samuel Alito said in an interview that Congress has no authority to impose such rules on the court. But at an event yesterday, liberal justice Elena Kagan indicated that she believed lawmakers did indeed have that power.
Kagan told the audiences of judges and lawyers in Portland, Oregon: “It just can’t be that the court is the only institution that somehow is not subject to checks and balances from anybody else. We’re not imperial.”
Justice Kagan’s comments at the Portland conference came soon after a Senate committee voted to advance a bill that would tighten financial disclosures and bolster recusal requirements for justices.
The bill prompted a strong response from conservative Justice Samuel Alito who said lawmakers imposing ethics rules on the court would violate the separation of powers.
But Kagan, who insisted she was not responding directly to Alito’s criticism, said: “Of course, Congress can regulate various aspects of what the supreme court does. Congress funds the supreme court. Congress historically has made changes to the court’s structure and composition. Congress has made changes to the court’s appellate jurisdiction.”
She did insist this did not mean Congress could do whatever it wanted.