Justice Alito says Congress lacks the power to impose an ethics code on the Supreme Court
Justice Alito says Congress lacks the power to impose an ethics code on the Supreme Court
Justice Samuel Alito says Congress lacks the power to impose a code of ethics on the Supreme Court. He becomes the first member of the court to take a public stand against proposals in Congress to toughen ethics rules for the justices.
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He's an asshole, but he's right. SCOTUS is supposed to be the last stop for constitutional rights. They can even block presidential directives if they are what they (Scotus) perceive as unconstitutional. However we've recently learned that there's a couple of members with sugar daddies and saying something like this isn't only piss poor timing, it's basically saying that Alito believes himself to be untouchable and infallible with authority over congress. Now keep in mind that we as American citizens make the ultimate vote (by the majority) to fill congressional seats to cater to the majority's needs, Alito is saying that SCOTUS is untouchable and infallible to the people
No, he's not right.
Although the Constitution establishes the Supreme Court, it permits Congress to decide how to organize it. Congress first exercised this power in the Judiciary Act of 1789. This Act created a Supreme Court with six justices. It also established the lower federal court system.
Congress gets to set the rules of how the Supreme Court is organized. They are a built-in constitutional check on SCOTUS.
That's not even mentioning that there is the power to amend the constitution. The constitution by which they are established and bound.
Congress very explicitly does not have the power to amend the Constitution on their own.
No, he's not right. The supreme court is big above all reproach. Multiple other people have proved that Congress has the power to make laws on how other parts of government function. On top of that, we are supposed to be a country of checks and balances. Why would we have a court that's all powerful, its members are appointed, and its members have lifelong appointments? That's basically zero oversight whatsoever. Congress can absolutely tell the supreme court how to function. Alito is just hoping that no one calls him on his bullshit.
Indeed. Justices are expected to serve "in good behavior" indicating they can be impeached which is a power granted to congress. Size of the court isn't spelled out in the constitution and the court has been different sizes as well. Maybe Alito would like to be part of a 51 person court. The power of the purse lies with congress. Alito might enjoy hearing cases inside of the local Denny's if they can beat the brunch crowd.
And then there is the whole judicial review thing - this is the vast majority of the court's power these days, and it has no constitutional basis. It's allowed only because everyone went along with it. What if the court declared something unconstitutional and everyone just went "ok boomer" and didn't give a shit?