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Judges and Judiciary

Feb. 16, 2011

A Supreme Court Above Reproach

Recent ethical concerns regarding certain U.S. Supreme Court justices call for change in law. By Erwin Chemerinsky of UC Irvine, School of Law.

Erwin Chemerinsky

Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law, UC Berkeley School of Law

Erwin's most recent book is "Worse Than Nothing: The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism." He is also the author of "Closing the Courthouse," (Yale University Press 2017).


Throughout history, one of the U.S. Supreme Court's greatest strengths and virtues has been the impeccable ethics of its justices. The Court has rarely been tainted by scandal. When there were allegations of improprieties by Justice Abe Fortas, he quickly resigned from the bench. Even rumors of ethical transgressions by justices are exceedingly rare.


In recent weeks, however, ethical concerns have been raised about some of the justices. Perhaps most signific...

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