who preceded clarence thomas, if marshal had accepted private jet travel or hotel lodging from a billionaire, a billionaire purchased thurgood marshal s mother s home for him, would we be having a conversation and hearing before the senate. we would have run him out on rail. i think about justice marshall s widow who died in november who talked about how she actually didn t socialize a lot in washington, d.c., when her husband became a justice of the court because she knew she had to be above reproach because he had to be above reproach as the first black justice on the united states supreme court. for people like my former boss, justice sonia sotomayor, they understand who they are in the arc of this history and that there is no room for error of this sort. they re scrupulous about disclosing these kinds of things and the fact that there have been lapses, it s okay if there s a lapse but there has to
obstruct an official proceeding and aiding and abenting, count four, conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging any duties, count five, obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder and aiding and abetting, six and seven, destruction of government property and aiding and abetting, eight and nine, assaulting or impeding officers. glen, the floor is yours. i wanted to broaden this out in terms of all that this jury is having to deliberate over. yeah. nicole, i m glad we have ryan as the eyes and ears on what s going on down there. let me i can be accused of seeing the justice glass as half full, but let s talk about the fact that jury is suggesting they re having trouble unanimously deciding the lead charge, the seditious conspiracy charge. so first of all, what happens, when a jury sends a hang note out saying judge, we ve deliberated, taken some votes,
program at college. i won t ask you what justice sonia sotomayor thought of today s hearing but what you think the justices would like to be known for when it comes to ethics? my guess is most of them, you know, sort of the thing, you re not doing anything wrong you would be happy to shine a light on your finances or your travel. so my question for you is what do you think most of the justices want when it comes to this question of an ethical code of conduct? well, nicole, one of the first things we have to recognize is not all of the justices are similarly situated with regard to this. i was thinking about senator kennedy s response, this was a high-tech lynching of clarence thomas, words we ve heard before, jus justice thomas has said about himself. can you imagine this happening to thurgood marshal, the person
it was a document that was attacheded to his letter. it is an extraordinary document. not in a good way. it makes clear while the justices are fine with consulting with certain authorities on how to address ethical issues, they do not feel bound by the same authorities. last month we learned about a justice who for years has accepted lavish trips and real estate purchases worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from a billionaire with interest before the court. that justice failed to disclose these gifts and has face nod apparent consequences under the court s ethics principles. that justice claims that lengthy cruises aboard a luxury yacht are personal hospitality and are exempt under current ethical standards from even being reported. the fact that a texas billionaire paid more than $100,000 for a justice s mother s home also seems to be
with a code of ethics for the supreme court. his statement to the senate reads in part, quote, whether the supreme court is subject to ethical standards of conduct or not, is emphatically not a partisan political issue and must not become one. this is not to say that the issue and question of whether the supreme court should be bound to ethical standards in its nonjudicial conduct and activities is not important. it is unquestionably important. it is even of surpassing importance, but it ought not be thought of as anything more, and certainly not less, than the housekeeping that is necessary to maintain a republic. the question of ethical standards at the supreme court front and center on capitol hill is where we begin today. nyu law professor former clerk to judge sonia sotomayor, melissa murray is here. joining us brian falling, co-founder and,tive director of the progressive judicial advocacy group demand justice, with us bassle, director of the