Fix the Court

Watchdog of 3rd branch. Est. in 2014. We advocate for SCOTUS term limits, a SCOTUS ethics code, cameras in courts & other fixes that 70+% of Americans support.

[Fix the Court @FixTheCourt]

Federal judges reported receiving 407 gifts worth $935,000 in 2023-24 (i.e., the 2 most recent yrs for which 85%+ of disclosures are posted).

*Any* gift acceptance exposes judges to unnecessary conflicts & justified criticism, but this is extreme https://t.co/wwTMWnL99j.

[Oriana González @ReporterOriana]

NEW: House Ethics has always had more male members than female

That has seemingly impacted the outcome of at least one sexual misconduct investigation: The one into Jim Costa

Women wanted to make the case public, but men argued against it

w/@kadiagoba
https://t.co/IGg4hLKdd5

[Deepak Gupta @deepakguptalaw]

Free PACER: Senators take another stab at revamping access to federal court records https://t.co/ehZww9EvCd

[andrew arruda @andrewarruda]

the availability of legal data, or more specifically the lack thereof, is gaining more attention. good!

[Fix the Court @FixTheCourt]

Hot off the presses, here's the text of the 100% germane @RepHankJohnson amendment that would cap the terms of future justices at 18 years https://t.co/gFKlYTLpqC #SCOTUS

[Fix the Court @FixTheCourt]

Just in: @JudiciaryGOP rules that @RepHankJohnson's #SCOTUS term limits bill tacked on to the Keep 9 amendment isn't germane, meaning no vote.

But if you're capping #SCOTUS at 9 in a const. amendment, then of course you could add term limits for those 9 to the text. Unreal.

[Sarah Rumpf 🇺🇸❤️🇺🇦 @rumpfshaker]

omg, about bleeping time

Yes, update PACER and make it free to access! 🙌

[Fix the Court @FixTheCourt]

The @SenJohnKennedy-@RonWyden Open Courts Act now has a bill number: S. 4667.

Text here https://t.co/Nlu2wfJfQz + Fix the Court reaction (we like it!) here: https://t.co/YvLk1qva7w.

[Benjamin S. Weiss @BenjaminSWeiss]

🏛️FREE PACER IS BACK: @SenJohnKennedy & @RonWyden are leading another attempt at a bill overhauling the federal judiciary's online repository of court records & make the service free to use.

Congress has tried for years to make this happen but has so far stumbled.

More ⤵️

[Nick Penzenstadler @npenzenstadler]

The bipartisan bill to end the PACER paywall has been reintroduced by Sens. Kennedy/Wyden. Read it here: https://t.co/JWDpYAD9YG (h/t @FixTheCourt)

[Courthouse News @CourthouseNews]

Free PACER: Senators take another stab at revamping access to federal court records @BenjaminSWeiss https://t.co/XMl6mPErIH

[Courtney Bublé @courtneybuble]

Wyden and Kennedy introduced a bill to modernize PACER

[Josh Gerstein @joshgerstein]

JUST IN: Judge Eleanor Ross (Obama/GAND) postpones scheduled Wednesday hearing in US suit over access to GA election rolls, says she wants to rule first on DOJ's motion to disqualify her over her attendance at election party for Fulton County DA Fani Willis.

[Aliza Shatzman ✡️ @AlizaShatzman]

There’s no one more motivated to achieve meaningful solutions, than someone working to correct injustices they personally experienced. 💪💪💪

Happy 4th 🎂birthday, @The_LAP_ ! 🎉🎉🎉

https://t.co/2GF6aStx5D

[Fix the Court @FixTheCourt]

Once again, no. If everything is an ethics scandal, then nothing is an ethics scandal, which is a bad place to be, since there remain several *actual* ethics issues at #SCOTUS.

[George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway3d]

Thoroughly agree with Mike here. We need a strict code of ethics—frankly, the strictest—for the highest court in the land.

[Fix the Court @FixTheCourt]

🦗🦗so far from @JudiciaryGOP

[Fix the Court @FixTheCourt]

In 2008 Jud. Cmte. Chair Conyers appointed a task force (6 Ds, 6Rs) to review misconduct allegations against a judge & see if there were grounds for impeachment.

Given Judge Ross' false statements & judiciary's underwhelming response, HJC shld do it again https://t.co/R9xPmlUdf7

[Fix the Court @FixTheCourt]

Helpful context on the Judge Ross complaint proceedings from judicial misconduct expert Arthur Hellman in the Volokh post below

[Volokh Conspiracy @VolokhC]

[Josh Blackman] What's Next for Judge Eleanor Ross? A 2009 Impeachment May Provide Some Clues https://t.co/C4JkfRwlBg

[FOIA Nate📄 @FOIANate]

Actual last side from a US Marshals Powerpoint used to train and prepare the Marshals on how to protect the homes of Supreme Court justices released in response to my FOIA.

[Fix the Court @FixTheCourt]

In 2008 Jud. Cmte. Chair Conyers appointed a task force (6 Ds, 6Rs) to review misconduct allegations against a judge & see if there were grounds for impeachment.

Given Judge Ross' false statements & judiciary's underwhelming response, HJC shld do it again https://t.co/R9xPmlUdf7

[Fix the Court @FixTheCourt]

Mostly inaccurate & unhelpful, though ofc Congress can (& should) withhold non-security funding if it believes #SCOTUS is falling short on issues like gifts, personnel, contracting practices, etc.

[Mike Levin @MikeLevin]

Samuel Alito’s son has worked as a lawyer inside Trump’s Treasury Department since early last year. The administration hid it.

No public resume, no LinkedIn, no mention on the Treasury website, outdated bar listings. Four former officials confirmed it.

The public was never told.

Here is why that matters.

Philip Alito served as an attorney-adviser in Treasury’s general counsel office, briefed on department matters across the board, while the Supreme Court took up a case in which the Treasury Department was a named defendant.

The department never disclosed the connection in court.

Justice Alito did not recuse.

The federal recusal law is plain. A justice must step aside in any case where his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.

That is the test.

Not whether anyone can prove influence but whether a reasonable person looking at this would doubt it. A justice ruling on cases involving the very agency that employs his son fails that test on its face.

And Treasury sits at the center of many upcoming issues, including the fight over Trump’s $1.776 billion dollar fund to reward the January 6th rioters he pardoned. That fight could be headed to the Court too.

This is exactly why the honor system has failed.

The Supreme Court is the only court in America with no enforceable code of conduct. I support withholding funding from the Court until the justices adopt a binding code with real recusal review.

Congress holds the power of the purse.

We should use it.

https://t.co/t2aZrXpaoU

[Chris “Law Dork” Geidner @chrisgeidner]

BREAKING: In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court tosses out Terry Pitchford's death sentence, ruling that the Mississippi Supreme Court improperly held that Pitchford had waived his Batson claim — of racial discrimination in jury selection — in his capital case. https://t.co/b2wd8fH7Xy