Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito took to the pages of the Wall Street Journal for the second time in recent months, this time not to defend his own ethics but to argue that Congress has little jurisdiction over the Supreme Court and therefore no business trying to impose ethical standards on its Justices.
[NOTE: Alito is responding to the uproar over the Justice Clarence Thomas revelations and subsequent legislation that advanced in the Senate to impose on the Supreme Court similar ethical standards that all lower courts must already adhere to by law.]
Alito, famously a constitutional originalist, claims that the SCOTUS was not created by Congress but by the Constitution, in which he finds no provision allowing for the imposition of ethics on the Court by Congress.
But if Congress can’t mandate the compliance of Supreme Court Justices, U.S. Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) asks, then why do all the SCOTUS Justices already file “congressionally mandated reports” — even if, in the case of Justice Thomas, the accuracy of those reports has been questioned?
To all the MAGA folks defending Justice Alito’s extreme and arrogant comments—like @hughhewitt and @JCNSeverino—tell me why Justice Alito filed Congressionally mandated reports? https://t.co/8rUbH3ITZB
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) July 29, 2023
Yep, I win. I’m right and you and Alito are so very wrong. https://t.co/f2My5KkJ1G
Rep. Lieu, who is a lawyer, says it’s simply because Alito’s “extreme and arrogant” argument is “so very wrong.”
For evidence, Lieu points to the congressional mandate specifying the contents of those reports.
Lieu also writes directly to Alito, albeit in the public forum, with another claim about congressional oversight of the Supreme Court, offering evidence proving such oversight is already manifest.
Dear Justice Alito: You’re on the Supreme Court in part because Congress expanded the Court to 9 Justices. Congress can impeach Justices and can in many cases strip the Court of jurisdiction. Congress has always regulated you and will continue to do so. You are not above the law. https://t.co/efUO6SF4aj
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) July 28, 2023
“Dear Justice Alito.” Lieu writes. “You’re on the Supreme Court in part because Congress expanded the Court to 9 Justices. Congress can impeach Justices and can in many cases strip the Court of jurisdiction. Congress has always regulated you and will continue to do so. You are not above the law.”
