Justice Kagan outlines how Supreme Court ethics code could work if enforced

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan on Monday outlined how the creation of a panel of lower court justices could enforce the Supreme Court's code of ethics that was created last year.

Democratic lawmakers have pressed the Supreme Court in recent months over ethics concerns, as multiple justices face allegations of unethical behavior. The Supreme Court created its code of ethics last year, but Democrats have blasted the code as "ineffective" given the allegations against Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.

Kagan proposed that the panel, who would be appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts, could weed out baseless allegations against the justices, while giving more attention to the ones with some basis, NBC News reported.

"It seems like a good idea in terms of ensuring that we comply with our own code of conduct going forward in the future," the justice said during a speech at the New York University School of Law. "It seems like a good idea in terms of ensuring that people have confidence that we're doing exactly that."

"I mean, there's like lots of ability now to make unfounded charges about what justices do and don't do. So I don't really see how it would increase that," she added.

Kagan also dismissed criticism that the lower court justices could be deferential to some of the justices, claiming she believes there are "plenty of judges around this country who could do a task like that in a very fair-minded and serious way."

None of the other Supreme Court Justices have indicated whether they agree with Kagan's proposal for enforcing the code of ethics, but fellow liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said she was open to an "enforceable" ethics code earlier this month, but she did not endorse a specific method.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.