Visiting Portland, Justice Kagan says she supports ethics code for Supreme Court

Speaking in Portland Thursday, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan said her colleagues on the court are actively discussing whether to impose their own ethical code of conduct.

“It won’t be a surprise to know that the nine of us have a variety of views about this,” Kagan said. “We’re nine free-thinking individuals.”

For years, the court largely regulated itself, though lower court judges must follow a code of conduct that avoids even the appearance of conflicts of interest. Earlier this year, the federal judiciary revised its ethics policy to incorporate non-business travel. That revision includes the nine justices.

“We could decide to adopt a code of conduct that either follows or decides in certain instances not to follow the standard code of conduct,” Kagan said.

Reporting by ProPublica and other news organizations this spring raised serious ethical questions about some members of the court. Namely, Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito took lavish and exclusive trips paid for by wealthy Republican mega donors, one of whom had business before the court. Neither Thomas nor Alito disclosed those trips.

Since then, Democrats in Congress have pushed legislation that would require the nation’s high court to adopt and enforce ethical rules.