Researcher ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0009-0008-8386-5435
Graduation Year
2024
Date of Submission
4-2024
Document Type
Campus Only Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Government
Second Department
Legal Studies
Reader 1
Professor Andrew Sinclair
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2024 James T Brown IV
Abstract
Supreme Court reform policies are among the least likely to pass in Congress. People often discuss how the Supreme Court has become more corrupt and polarized, but these discussions never lead to productive changes. Polarization and corruption is present due to the lack of Supreme Court ethics laws. Four flaws have been revealed due to this lack of ethics laws. These flaws include Justices overturning precedents because of political motivations, dishonesty and polarization during the Supreme Court nomination process, unrestricted gifts that are financial incentives, and weak disclosure laws. These flaws can be fixed through ethics laws that ensure Supreme Court Justices act with honesty, and without political bias.
The goal of this thesis is to highlight the flaws of the Supreme Court and that there are ways to fix these flaws through ethics laws. The attitude when it comes to judicial, executive, and legislative reforms is that they either do too much, or do so little there’s no reason to waste time on them. To achieve true reforms, examples of the flaws in a system must be collected over time. The fight for slavery, women's rights, and LGBTQ+ rights gained strength through different eras by growing communities that experienced and understood the issues. This thesis is additional material for the efforts towards justice and reform in the Supreme Court. The flaws of the Supreme Court will be highlighted in detail, potential reform solutions will be proposed and the failure of a current Supreme Court ethics law will be discussed.
Recommended Citation
Brown IV, James, "Supreme Court Ethics Or The Lack Thereof" (2024). CMC Senior Theses. 3553.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/3553
This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.
