by John W. Dean | June 29, 2011
For good reason, there has been serious
hand-wringing over what to do about the ethical lapses of U.S. Supreme
Court Justice Clarence Thomas. The fact that Supreme Court justices are
exempt from the code of ethical conduct which applies to the rest of the
federal judiciary; the problem of bringing a sitting justice before the
Congress to question the conduct of a constitutional co-equal; the
reality that justices cannot easily defend themselves against news media
charges; the defiant, in-your-face posture of Thomas—the list goes on
but it need not. There is clear precedent for how to deal with the
justice. Thomas could be forced off the bench.
As the associate deputy attorney general in President Richard M.
Nixon's Department of Justice, I was there when Assistant Attorney
General William Rehnquist outlined how to remove a Supreme Court justice
who had engaged in conduct not quite as troublesome as that of Thomas.
Rehnquist, of course, would later become chief justice of the United
States. His memorandum providing the process for the Department of
Justice to proceed against then Supreme Court Justice
Abe Fortas
remains solid precedent and the way to deal with Clarence Thomas. But
before looking at the solution, I should explain the problem.
» article continues...
1 comment:
His life seems like a never-ending bad B movie....
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