Chief Justice Roberts declines to testify on Supreme Court ethics
NBCDec 24, 2022
The Facts
On Tuesday, SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts declined an invitation from the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), to testify in May concerning ethical standards and rules in America's highest court.
While Durbin cited justices' alleged failures to abide by the ethical standards expected of the judicial system, Roberts argued there was little precedent for such an act given the importance of the separation of powers between the branches of the US government.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
While Roberts has rightfully continued to defend the integrity of the Supreme Court, recent troubles surrounding Justices Thomas and Gorsuch continue to exemplify the institution's decline in public standing. As the leader of this sacred institution and a man who believes in its prestige, Roberts must take steps to get his house in order before opinion stoops even lower.
Republican narrative
ProPublica's nasty hit piece on Thomas can be reduced to a joint Democrat-media campaign of harassment against a conservative justice with the end goal of stacking the court. Durbin's call for Robert's testimony is unprecedented, and there is nothing wrong with Thomas and Harlan Crow's families being close friends for over twenty-five years.
