Sign the petition re: Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito's corruption

Senate Democrats must use their power to investigate and rein in the corruption at the Supreme Court, vote on meaningful ethics reforms, and help restore the court's balance and integrity.

Dear MoveOn member,

Supreme Court corruption is out of control. Conservative justices have accepted undisclosed gifts from billionaires with business before the court.¹ Dark-money groups are exerting influence over a Trump-packed court. And there is no enforceable code of ethics to deal with conflicts of interest or provide transparency.

It's time for the Senate Democratic majority to take bold action! Add your name now to call on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin, and other members of the U.S. Senate to rein in the corruption at the Supreme Court with sweeping investigations and meaningful reforms.

It's time for the Senate's Democratic leadership to hold hearings investigating the illegal and unethical conduct of Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, as well as other forms of corruption and conflict in the court. This must include subpoenas for right-wing megadonor Harlan Crow, sweeping investigations, and a vote on the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act (SCERT), which would require the Supreme Court to adopt and abide by a code of conduct.

Right-wing billionaires have invested tens of millions to capture the Supreme Court. They've worked with Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to pack the court with conservative justices. They've funded cases to overturn abortion rights, shatter precedent, and strengthen corporate power.

And as has become clear due to recent blockbuster revelations, these billionaires have lavished gifts on conservative justices, including Thomas and Alito—who have not disclosed these gifts for years or recused themselves from cases where there would be an apparent conflict of interest.²

Last week, ProPublica published a damning article revealing that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has a history of attending Koch network donor events—an ultrawealthy, right-wing political network that has sent multiple cases to the Supreme Court that would benefit or have benefited them greatly.³ Notably, one of the cases sought to allow organizations to keep their donors secret—and Thomas sided with the 6-3 conservative majority in Koch's favor.⁴

Furthermore, Justice Thomas's wife—conservative superactivist Ginni Thomas—has helped create and advise these networks of conservative donors and advocates.⁵ Yet Justice Thomas has never recused himself from cases involving her work—including cases around Donald Trump's efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 election, in which Ginni Thomas was directly implicated.⁶

Despite hundreds of thousands in gifts, rampant conflicts of interest, and a historically low level of public trust in the integrity of the court, Chief Justice John Roberts has refused to act. And while Democrats in Congress have held the first hearings about a judicial code of ethics for the Supreme Court, they have not gone far enough, while Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Alito, Crow and others have dismissed congressional efforts to rein in the court.⁷

Our senators need to use their power to rein in the corruption of the Supreme Court and take meaningful steps toward restoring its balance and integrity.

It is Congress's authority and responsibility to act. To start, Democrats hold a majority and need to use the power of their committee chairs to hold sweeping investigations into corruption and finally move forward a comprehensive ethics reform bill for a vote. It will take far more to fix the right-wing capture of the court and deal with the epidemic of the influence of Big Money. We need to expand the court to rebalance it, pursue impeachment of corrupt justices, and pass other reforms that restore the integrity of our judicial system.

Sweeping investigations and a vote on ethics reforms are steps that are important—and within the power of today's Democratic majority.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks for all you do.

–Justin, Alexis, Jensine, Joel B., and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "Clarence Thomas' 38 Vacations: The Other Billionaires Who Have Treated the Supreme Court Justice to Luxury Travel," ProPublica, August 10, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/179747?t=6&akid=363223%2E53570607%2EdCgV0M

2. "Justice Samuel Alito Took Luxury Fishing Vacation With GOP Billionaire Who Later Had Cases Before the Court," ProPublica, June 20, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/174366?t=8&akid=363223%2E53570607%2EdCgV0M

3. "Clarence Thomas Secretly Participated in Koch Network Donor Events," ProPublica, September 22, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/180348?t=10&akid=363223%2E53570607%2EdCgV0M

4. Ibid. 

5. "What Ginni Thomas and Leonard Leo wrought: How a justice's wife and a key activist started a movement," Politico, September 10, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/180146?t=12&akid=363223%2E53570607%2EdCgV0M

6. "Ginni Thomas reportedly pressed Trump's chief of staff on overturning the election," NPR, March 25, 2022

https://act.moveon.org/go/171919?t=14&akid=363223%2E53570607%2EdCgV0M

7. "Congress Can't Force Ethics Code on Supreme Court, Alito Says," Bloomberg Law, July 28, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/180145?t=16&akid=363223%2E53570607%2EdCgV0M

Want to support MoveOn's work? Book bans have skyrocketed thanks to right-wing state laws which have forced teachers to remove books from their classrooms. In response, MoveOn is launching a "Banned Bookmobile," filling it with books that the far right has banned, and driving it around to hand out those books, for free, in highly trafficked areas that will attract media attention. To keep the Banned Bookmobile up and running into 2024, we need your help.

Will you start a monthly gift to power our critical work? 

Yes, I'll chip in $5 a month.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.

---

PAID FOR BY MOVEON POLITICAL ACTION, https://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. MoveOn Political Action - PO Box 96142, Washington, D.C. 20090-6142.

This email was sent to Andra Patterson on September 28, 2023. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. MoveOn's privacy policy was recently updated. To read our new privacy policy, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.