The Allegations against Clarence Thomas Are Devastating, but He’ll Go Unpunished

Published in Der Standard
(Austria) on 11 August 2023
by Noura Maan (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Kirsty Low. Edited by Michelle Bisson.
The U.S. Supreme Court has virtually nonexistent ethical standards. That needs to change.

Luxury vacations, rides in private jets, real estate deals — the list of gifts Justice Clarence Thomas has accepted from conservative billionaires is long. The allegations are serious. However, the only concrete offense he is guilty of is not telling the truth. Besides that, his acceptance of gifts, which clearly reeks of corruption, is legal.

That needs to change. It is unacceptable that the country’s highest court — where justices appointed for life make final rulings that, to a certain extent, affect the lives of millions — has virtually no ethical standards. In Congress, where senators and members of Congress are elected for just a few years, there are strict rules surrounding the acceptance of gifts. Even “lower-level” judges must abide by a strict code of conduct.

But this is not the case on the Supreme Court. And even if someone doesn't comply with the current casual rules, as is true of Thomas, they don’t face any actual consequences. That is because the highest authorities sit on the Supreme Court. You would think that someone who occupies such a prestigious office would try to prevent damage from being done to it and step down rather than allowing months of attacks on the court. But in an era in which Donald Trump can be called a U.S. president, someone who managed to hold the country’s highest office despite failing to have any moral values, standards seem to have dropped significantly.


Die Vorwürfe gegen Clarence Thomas sind verheerend, bleiben aber folgenlos

Das US-Höchstgericht hat quasi inexistente ethische Standards. Das muss sich ändern

Luxusreisen, Privatjetflüge, Immobiliendeals: Die Liste der Geschenke, die US-Höchstrichter Clarence Thomas von konservativen Milliardären annahm, ist lang. Die Vorwürfe wiegen schwer. Der einzige konkrete Verstoß lautet allerdings: Er hat darüber nicht die Wahrheit gesagt. Abseits davon bewegt er sich mit seinen Geschenkannahmen, denen eindeutig Korruptionsmief anhaftet, im legalen Bereich.

Das muss sich ändern. Es darf nicht sein, dass das höchste Gericht des Landes – wo auf Lebenszeit ernannte Richterinnen und Richter teils endgültige Entscheidungen fällen, die Millionen betreffen – quasi inexistente ethische Standards hat. Im Kongress, wo Senatorinnen und Abgeordnete nur für wenige Jahre gewählt werden, gelten strenge Regeln für Geschenkannahmen. Auch Richterinnen und Richter in "niedrigeren" Positionen müssen sich an einen strengen Verhaltenskodex halten.

Nicht aber am Supreme Court. Und selbst wenn jemand die vorhandenen laxen Regeln nicht einhält wie Clarence Thomas, drohen ihm eigentlich keine Konsequenzen. Denn die höchsten Instanzen sitzen im Supreme Court. Man würde meinen, wenn man ein so prestigeträchtiges Amt innehat, versucht man Schaden davon abzuwenden und tritt zurück, anstatt monatelange Angriffe auf das Gericht zu ermöglichen. In einer Zeit, in der ein US-Präsident Donald Trump heißen kann, der es ohne jegliche moralische Ansprüche ins höchste Amt des Landes geschafft hätte, scheinen die Standards aber deutlich gesunken.
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