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

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.