Washington – Federal courts will not refer to the Justice Department allegations that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas may have violated ethics laws, the judiciary’s policymaking body said Thursday.
Thomas has agreed to follow updated travel and gift reporting requirements, including clearer guidelines on hospitality from friends, the US Judicial Conference wrote. Democratic senators who had called for an investigation in the undisclosed acceptance of luxury travel.
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Thomas has previously said he was not required to disclose the many trips he and his wife took that were paid for by wealthy benefactors such as Republican mega-donor Harlan Crow because they are close personal friends. The court did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
The Supreme Court adopted its first code of ethics in 2023 in the face of sustained criticism, but the new code lacks a means of enforcement.
It is not clear whether the law allows the Judicial Conference of the United States to make a criminal referral of a Supreme Court justice, U.S. District Judge Robert Conrad wrote. He serves as clerk of the conference, which sets policy for the federal court system and is led by Chief Justice John Roberts.
A referral in this case isn’t necessary, Conrad said, because two Democratic senators asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel over the summer. This appointment has not been made public.
The group Fix the Court said the financial disclosure law is clear and should apply to judges. “The Conference letters further underscore the need for Congress to create a new and transparent mechanism to investigate those prosecuted for ethics violations, as the Conference is unwilling to act on the only method we had assumed existed for do it,” said Executive Director Gabe Roth. a statement
Conrad also filed a similar response to a separate complaint by a conservative legal group, the Center for Renewing America, regarding reports by Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson about the source of her husband’s consulting income. Jackson has since amended its disclosures and also agreed to updated reporting requirements, Conrad wrote.