Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito have together accepted millions of dollars in undisclosed gifts from right-wing billionaires, while handing down a stunning number of far-right decisions that overturned decades of legal precedent.¹

Now it’s looking increasingly likely that these same justices could play a decisive role in the upcoming presidential election.²

We know that any close election will be challenged in court, and these justices have proven time and again that they cannot be trusted to rule impartially or recuse themselves when they have conflicts of interest.

Congress must step in immediately to pass an enforceable, binding code of ethics to stop the corruption on the Supreme Court.

Will you donate $10 to support our work, including pushing for real Supreme Court ethics reform?

But if this election is as close as polls suggest, it could become a replay of the 2000 election, where the Supreme Court could be in a position to effectively decide the outcome.

If that happens, it will be very difficult for many Americans to believe that the justices can be trusted to rule in a fair and unbiased way, given the massive amount of money some of them have gotten from right-wing billionaires.

Clarence Thomas has taken at least $4 million in gifts from right-wing billionaire Harlan Crow, including dozens of private jet flights, superyacht trips, and helicopter rides to vacation destinations around the world.³ In addition, Crow paid the private school tuition for Thomas’s grandnephew and owns the house where Thomas’s mother lives rent-free.⁴

Meanwhile, Samuel Alito was caught taking a luxury vacation to Alaska worth over $100,000, paid for by Republican megadonor Paul Singer — and then refused to recuse himself in at least 10 cases in which Singer came before the court, including one that netted Singer $2.4 billion.⁵

Those are just two examples on the seemingly endless list of corruption scandals that have embroiled Thomas and Alito.

Demand Progress Action has worked for years to restrain the radical right-wing takeover of the Supreme Court, and now we’re renewing our efforts to pass a legally binding Supreme Court ethics code.

Will you donate $10 to help support our work, including demanding that Congress enact a legally binding code of ethics for the Supreme Court?

With gratitude,

The team at Demand Progress Action

Sources:
1. The New York Times, “Justices Thomas and Alito Ignored Calls for Recusal in Jan. 6 Case,” June 28, 2024.
2. Slate, “The Supreme Court Just Signaled What It Will Do If the Election Is Close,” August 29, 2024.
3. Fix the Court, “A Staggering Tally: Supreme Court Justices Accepted Hundreds of Gifts Worth Millions of Dollars,” June 6, 2024.
4. ProPublica, “Clarence Thomas Had a Child in Private School. Harlan Crow Paid the Tuition.,” May 4, 2023.
5. ProPublica, “Justice Samuel Alito Took Luxury Fishing Vacation With GOP Billionaire Who Later Had Cases Before the Court,” June 20, 2023.

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