Federal

Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 3,886 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill requires the Supreme Court to create a code of conduct for its justices and establishes procedures for investigating complaints against justices who violate that code. It also expands the situations where justices must remove themselves from cases, requires disclosure of gifts and financial benefits received by justices, and creates new rules for parties and outside groups filing briefs with the Court to reveal their financial ties to justices. ##

Who It Affects

- Supreme Court justices - Federal judges (appeals court judges, district court judges, bankruptcy judges, and magistrate judges) - Lawyers and law firms appearing before federal courts - Groups filing briefs with federal courts (called amicus briefs) - The Judicial Conference of the United States - Law clerks who work for justices and judges - The Federal Judicial Center and courts' administrative staff ##

Key Provisions

- The Supreme Court must create a code of conduct for justices within 180 days after the bill becomes law, and must post it online in a searchable, downloadable format (Sec. 2) - The Court must establish procedures for individuals to file complaints alleging a justice violated the code of conduct, federal ethics laws, or engaged in conduct that undermines the Court's integrity (Sec. 2) - A panel of five judges randomly selected from each federal circuit must review and investigate complaints, and if they do not recommend dismissing the complaint, must publish their findings within 30 days (Sec. 2) - Justices must disqualify themselves from cases if a party to the case or their supporters made lobbying contacts or spent substantial funds supporting the justice's nomination, confirmation, or appointment (Sec. 4) - Justices must disqualify themselves if they or their spouse, minor child, or a business entity they own received income, gifts, or reimbursements from a party to the case during the six years before the case was assigned to them (Sec. 4) - The Counselor to the Chief Justice must establish rules requiring justices and their law clerks to disclose gifts, income, and reimbursements using standards at least as strict as those for members of Congress (Sec. 3) - Parties and outside groups filing briefs must disclose all gifts, income, and reimbursements they or their lawyers provided to any justice during the two years before and throughout the case (Sec. 6) - Groups filing briefs must name anyone who contributed to writing the brief or contributed 3 percent or more of the group's annual revenue or more than $100,000 in the previous calendar year (Sec. 7) - The court clerk must post timely notice on the court's website whenever a judge disqualifies themselves, explaining the specific reasons but withholding private or sensitive information (Sec. 4) ##

What Changes

If this bill becomes law, the Supreme Court will be required to adopt and publish a code of conduct for the first time. Federal courts will be required to accept complaints about justices' ethics for the first time. Justices will have new automatic disqualification requirements based on parties' lobbying activities and financial payments to them or their families. All gifts, income, and reimbursements to justices and their law clerks will have to be disclosed publicly. Any party or outside group filing a brief with a federal court will have to disclose their financial ties to the justice or judge hearing the case. ##

Important Definitions

- **Gift**: Not defined in the bill. The bill references the definition in section 13101 of title 5 of the United States Code. - **Reimbursement**: Not defined in the bill. The bill references the definition in section 13101 of title 5 of the United States Code. - **Lobbying contact**: Defined by the bill as whatever the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 defines this term to mean. - **Amicus brief**: A brief filed by a person or group that is not a party to the case but wishes to provide information to assist the court. - **Affiliate**: Not defined in the bill. - **Substantial funds**: Not defined in the bill. ##

Effective Date

Not specified in bill text. The bill states that various provisions must be completed within specific timeframes after the bill becomes law (such as 180 days or one year), but does not state a specific date when the bill itself takes effect.

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 926 To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for a code of conduct for justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 9, 2023 Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Mr. NADLER, Mr. QUIGLEY, and Mr. CICILLINE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for a code of conduct for justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supreme Court Ethics, 4 Recusal, and Transparency Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H926.IH H926 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 926 IH SEC. 2. CODE OF CONDUCT FOR THE SUPREME COURT OF 1 THE UNITED STATES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 16 of title 28, United 3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘§ 365. Codes of conduct 6 ‘‘(a) JUSTICES.—Not later than 180 days after the 7 date of enactment of this section, the Supreme Court of 8 the United States shall, after appropriate public notice 9 and opportunity for comment in accordance with section 10 2071, issue a code of conduct for the justices of the Su- 11 preme Court. 12 ‘‘(b) OTHER JUDGES.—Not later than 180 days after 13 the date of enactment of this section, the Judicial Con- 14 ference of the United States shall, after appropriate public 15 notice and opportunity for comment in accordance with 16 section 2071, issue a code of conduct for the judges of 17 the courts of appeals, the district courts (including bank- 18 ruptcy judges and magistrate judges), and the Court of 19 International Trade. 20 ‘‘(c) MODIFICATION.—The Supreme Court of the 21 United States and the Judicial Conference may modify the 22 applicable codes of conduct under this section after giving 23 appropriate public notice and opportunity for comment in 24 accordance with section 2071. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H926.IH H926 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 926 IH ‘‘§ 366. Public access to ethics rules 1 ‘‘The Supreme Court of the United States shall make 2 available on its internet website, in a full-text, searchable, 3 sortable, and downloadable format, copies of the code of 4 conduct issued under section 365(a), any rules established 5 by the Counselor to the Chief Justice under section 677 6 and any other related rules or resolutions, as determined 7 by the Chief Justice of the United States, issued by the 8 Counselor to the Chief Justice of the United States or 9 agreed to by the justices of the Supreme Court. 10 ‘‘§ 367. Complaints against justices 11 ‘‘(a) RECEIPT OF COMPLAINTS.—Not later than 180 12 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Su- 13 preme Court of the United States shall establish proce- 14 dures, modeled after the procedures set forth in sections 15 351 through 364, under which individuals may file with 16 the Court, or the Court may identify, complaints alleging 17 that a justice of the Supreme Court— 18 ‘‘(1) has violated— 19 ‘‘(A) the code of conduct issued pursuant 20 to section 365(a); 21 ‘‘(B) section 455; or 22 ‘‘(C) any other applicable provision of Fed- 23 eral law; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H926.IH H926 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 926 IH ‘‘(2) has otherwise engaged in conduct that un- 1 dermines the integrity of the Supreme Court of the 2 United States. 3 ‘‘(b) JUDICIAL INVESTIGATION PANEL.— 4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon receipt or identifica- 5 tion of a complaint under subsection (a), the Su- 6 preme Court of the United States shall refer such 7 complaint to a judicial investigation panel, which 8 shall be composed of a panel of 5 judges selected 9 randomly from among the chief judge of each circuit 10 of the United States. 11 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The judicial investigation panel 12 shall— 13 ‘‘(A) review and, if appropriate as deter- 14 mined by the panel, investigate all complaints 15 submitted to the panel using procedures estab- 16 lished by the panel and modeled after the proce- 17 dures set forth in sections 351 through 364; 18 ‘‘(B) present to the Supreme Court of the 19 United States any findings and recommenda- 20 tions for necessary and appropriate action by 21 the Supreme Court, including dismissal of the 22 complaint, disciplinary actions, or changes to 23 Supreme Court rules or procedures; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H926.IH H926 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 926 IH ‘‘(C) if the panel does not recommend dis- 1 missal of the complaint, not later than 30 days 2 following the presentation of any findings and 3 recommendations under this paragraph, publish 4 a report containing such findings and rec- 5 ommendations; and 6 ‘‘(D) if the panel recommends dismissal of 7 the complaint, the panel may publish any find- 8 ings and recommendations if the panel deter- 9 mines that such publication would be in fur- 10 therance of the public interest. 11 ‘‘(3) POWERS.—In conducting any investigation 12 under this section, the judicial investigation panel 13 may hold hearings, take sworn testimony, issue sub- 14 poenas ad testificandum and subpoenas duces 15 tecum, and make necessary and appropriate orders 16 in the exercise of its authority. 17 ‘‘(4) ACCESS.—If the judicial investigation 18 panel determines that a substantially similar com- 19 plaint was previously submitted under section 351, 20 but that such substantially similar complaint was 21 dismissed for lack of authority to review or act upon 22 such complaint, the panel shall have access to any 23 information gathered pursuant to this chapter in re- 24 lation to such substantially similar complaint. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H926.IH H926 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 926 IH ‘‘(5) COMPENSATION.—The judicial investiga- 1 tion panel may appoint and fix the compensation of 2 such staff as it deems necessary.’’. 3 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 4 The table of sections for chapter 16 of title 28, United 5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 6 lowing: 7 ‘‘365. Codes of conduct. ‘‘366. Public access to ethics rules. ‘‘367. Complaints against justices.’’. SEC. 3. MINIMUM GIFT, TRAVEL, AND INCOME DISCLOSURE 8 STANDARDS FOR JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME 9 COURT. 10 Section 677 of title 28, United States Code, is 11 amended by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(d) The Counselor, with the approval of the Chief 13 Justice, shall establish rules governing the disclosure of 14 all gifts, income, or reimbursements, as those terms are 15 defined in section 13101 of title 5, received by any justice 16 and any law clerk to a justice. Such rules shall, at min- 17 imum, require disclosure of any information concerning 18 gifts, income, and reimbursements required to be disclosed 19 under the Standing Rules of the Senate and the Rules of 20 the House of Representatives.’’. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H926.IH H926 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 926 IH SEC. 4. CIRCUMSTANCES REQUIRING DISQUALIFICATION. 1 (a) ANTICORRUPTION PROTECTIONS.—Subsection 2 (b) of section 455 of title 28, United States Code, is 3 amended by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(6) Where the justice or judge knows that a 5 party to the proceeding or an affiliate of a party to 6 the proceeding made any lobbying contact, as de- 7 fined in section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 8 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602), or spent substantial funds in 9 support of the nomination, confirmation, or appoint- 10 ment of the justice or judge. 11 ‘‘(7) Where the justice or judge, their spouse, 12 minor child, or a privately held entity owned by any 13 such person received income, a gift, or reimburse- 14 ment, as those terms are defined in section 13101 15 of title 5— 16 ‘‘(A) from a party to the proceeding or an 17 affiliate of a party to the proceeding; and 18 ‘‘(B) during the period beginning on the 19 date that is 6 years before the date on which 20 the justice or judge was assigned to the pro- 21 ceeding and ending on the date of final disposi- 22 tion of the proceeding.’’. 23 (b) DUTY TO KNOW.—Subsection (c) of section 455 24 of title 28, United States Code, is amended to read as 25 follows: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H926.IH H926 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 926 IH ‘‘(c) A justice, judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy 1 judge of the United States shall ascertain— 2 ‘‘(1) the personal and fiduciary financial inter- 3 ests of the justice or judge; 4 ‘‘(2) the personal financial interests of the 5 spouse and minor children residing in the household 6 of the justice or judge; and 7 ‘‘(3) any interest of the persons described in 8 paragraph (2) that could be substantially affected by 9 the outcome of the proceeding.’’. 10 (c) DIVESTMENT.—Subsection (f) of section 455 of 11 title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting 12 ‘‘under subsection (b)(4)’’ after ‘‘disqualified’’. 13 (d) DUTY TO NOTIFY.—Section 455 of title 28, 14 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 15 following: 16 ‘‘(g) If at any time a justice, judge, magistrate judge, 17 or bankruptcy judge of the United States learns of a con- 18 dition that could reasonably require disqualification under 19 this section, the justice or judge shall immediately notify 20 all parties to the proceeding.’’. 21 (e) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 22 Section 455 of title 28, United States Code, as amended 23 by this section, is amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H926.IH H926 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 926 IH (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘judge, 1 or magistrate judge’’ and inserting ‘‘judge, 2 magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge’’; 3 (2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘judge, or 4 magistrate judge’’ and inserting ‘‘judge, magistrate 5 judge, or bankruptcy judge’’; 6 (3) in subsection (b)— 7 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘the 8 judge or such lawyer’’ and inserting ‘‘the jus- 9 tice, the judge, or such lawyer’’; 10 (B) in paragraph (5)(iii), by inserting 11 ‘‘justice or’’ before ‘‘judge’’; and 12 (C) in paragraph (5)(iv), by inserting ‘‘jus- 13 tice’s or’’ before ‘‘judge’s’’; 14 (4) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘justice or’’ 15 before ‘‘judge’’; 16 (5) in subsection (d)(4)(i), by inserting ‘‘justice 17 or’’ before ‘‘judge’’; and 18 (6) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘judge, or 19 magistrate judge’’ and inserting ‘‘judge, magistrate 20 judge, or bankruptcy judge of the United States’’. 21 (f) PUBLIC NOTICE.—The rules of each court subject 22 to section 455 of title 28, United States Code, as amended 23 by this section, shall be amended to require that the clerk 24 shall publish timely notice on the website of the court of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H926.IH H926 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 926 IH (1) any matter in which a justice, judge, mag- 1 istrate judge, or bankruptcy judge of the United 2 States is disqualified under such section; 3 (2) any matter in which the reviewing panel 4 under section 1660 of title 28, United States Code, 5 rules on a motion to disqualify; and 6 (3) an explanation of each reason for the dis- 7 qualification or ruling, which shall include a specific 8 identification of each circumstance that resulted in 9 such disqualification or ruling, but which shall not 10 include any private or sensitive information deemed 11 by a majority of the reviewing panel under section 12 1660 of title 28, United States Code, as added by 13 section 5 of this Act, to be appropriate for redaction 14 and unnecessary in order to provide the litigants and 15 public a full understanding of the reasons for the 16 disqualification or ruling. 17 SEC. 5. REVIEW OF CERTIFIED DISQUALIFICATION MO- 18 TIONS. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 111 of title 28, United 20 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 21 lowing: 22 ‘‘§ 1660. Review of certified motions to disqualify 23 ‘‘(a) MOTION FOR DISQUALIFICATION.—If a justice, 24 judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H926.IH H926 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 926 IH United States is required to be disqualified from a pro- 1 ceeding under any provision of Federal law, a party to 2 the proceeding may file a timely motion for disqualifica- 3 tion, accompanied by a certificate of good faith and an 4 affidavit alleging facts sufficient to show that disqualifica- 5 tion of the justice, judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy 6 judge is so required. 7 ‘‘(b) CONSIDERATION OF MOTION.—A justice, judge, 8 magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge of the United 9 States shall either grant or certify to a reviewing panel 10 a timely motion filed pursuant to subsection (a) and stay 11 the proceeding until a final determination is made with 12 respect to the motion. 13 ‘‘(c) REVIEWING PANEL.— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A reviewing panel to which 15 a motion is certified under subsection (b) shall be 16 composed of 3 judges selected at random from 17 judges of the United States who do not sit on the 18 same court— 19 ‘‘(A) as the judge, magistrate judge, or 20 bankruptcy judge who is the subject of the mo- 21 tion; or 22 ‘‘(B) as the other members of the review- 23 ing panel. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H926.IH H926 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 926 IH ‘‘(2) CIRCUIT LIMITATION.—Not more than 1 1 member of the reviewing panel may be a judge of 2 the same judicial circuit as the judge, magistrate 3 judge, or bankruptcy judge who is the subject of the 4 motion. 5 ‘‘(3) PARTICIPATION.—The reviewing panel, 6 prior to its final determination with respect to a mo- 7 tion filed under subsection (a), shall provide the 8 judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge of the 9 United States who is the subject of such motion an 10 opportunity to provide in writin [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]

Important: This plain English summary was generated by AI and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Always consult the official bill text on Congress.gov or a qualified attorney for legal matters.