Scholars' Letter On SCOTUS Ethics Code

Hon. John G. Roberts, Jr.
Chief Justice of the United States

Supreme Court of the United States
One First Street NE
Washington, D.C., 20543
Feb. 3, 2022
Dear Chief Justice Roberts:
We, the undersigned legal ethics scholars, write to urge the Court to complete and adopt a Code of Conduct for the
Supreme Court of the United States.
We were encouraged when, nearly three years ago, Justice Elena Kagan told a House Appropriations Subcommittee
that you were “studying the question of whether to have a Code of Judicial Conduct that’s applicable only to the United
States Supreme Court” and that it’s “something that’s being thought very seriously about.” To our knowledge, though,
this project remains unfinished.
We do not question the integrity of any justice; nor do we write in response to any single speech, interview or other
extrajudicial activity undertaken by any of the justices in recent years. We simply believe that a written Code, even if
primarily aspirational, would have a broad salutary impact, assisting current and future members of the Court to
transparently address potential conflicts and other issues in a way that builds public trust in the institution.
We agree, as you wrote in your 2011 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary, that the lower courts’ Code of Conduct
for United States Judges does “not adequately answer some of the ethical considerations unique to the Supreme Court,”
so simply adopting it, as some have suggested, would not suffice. And although there remain efforts in Congress to
impose a formal Code for the Court, we acknowledge the view, articulated in your 2021 Year-End Report, that there
is a “need for the Judiciary to manage its internal affairs, both to promote informed administration and to ensure
independence of the Branch.” We prefer that the Supreme Court draft a Code of Conduct and avoid the weighty
questions that might arise if Congress imposed one.
Finally, there is no question that every justice who serves on the Supreme Court faces their share of ethics challenges.
We believe that in the vast majority of cases, the justices have made the right call. But at a time when public institutions
are redoubling their efforts to improve the public’s trust, we maintain that a formal, written Code, offering a uniform
set of principles that justices and the public alike would look to for guidance, would benefit the Court and the nation.
Sincerely,*
Richard L. Abel Angela J. Davis
Connell Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus and Distinguished Professor of Law
Distinguished Research Professor American University Washington College of Law
UCLA School of Law
Nora Freeman Engstrom
Swethaa S. Ballakrishnen Ernest W. McFarland Professor of Law and Co-Director,
Assistant Professor of Law and Faculty Co-Director, Center Stanford Center on the Legal Profession
for Empirical Research on the Legal Profession Stanford Law School
University of California Irvine School of Law
Susan Fortney
Scott Cummings University Professor and Director, Program for the
Robert Henigson Professor of Legal Ethics Advancement of Legal Ethics
UCLA School of Law Texas A&M University School of Law
Amanda Frost Steven Lubet
Bronfman Professor of Law & Government Williams Memorial Professor
American University Washington College of Law Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
Bennett L. Gershman Nancy J. Moore

Distinguished Professor of Law Professor of Law and Nancy E. Barton Scholar
Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University Boston University School of Law
Charles Gardner Geyh Ellen Murphy

Distinguished Professor and John F. Kimberling Professor Professor of the Practice
of Law Wake Forest University School of Law
Indiana University Maurer School of Law
Richard W. Painter
Stephen Gillers S. Walter Richey Professor of Corporate Law
Elihu Root Professor of Law University of Minnesota Law School
NYU School of Law
Russell G. Pearce
Lissa Griffin Edward & Marilyn Bellet Chair in Legal Ethics,
Professor of Law Morality, and Religion
Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University Fordham University School of Law
Peter A. Joy Abbe Smith

Henry Hitchcock Professor of Law Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Law
Washington University in St. Louis Georgetown University Law Center
Renee Knake Jefferson Laurel S. Terry

Doherty Chair in Legal Ethics & Professor of Law H. Laddie Montague Jr. Chair in Law, Emerita and
University of Houston Law Center Professor of Law, Emerita
Penn State Dickinson Law
Sung Hui Kim
Professor of Law W. Bradley Wendel
UCLA School of Law Edwin H. Woodruff Professor of Law
Cornell Law School
Leslie C. Levin
Hugh Macgill Professor of Law Ellen C. Yaroshefsky
University of Connecticut School of Law Howard Lichtenstein Distinguished Professor of Legal Ethics
Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University
David J. Luban
University Professor
Georgetown University Law Center *Institutional affiliations are for identification purposes only

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Hon. John G. Roberts, Jr.

Chief Justice of the United States

Bennett L. Gershman Nancy J. Moore

Charles Gardner Geyh Ellen Murphy

Peter A. Joy Abbe Smith

Renee Knake Jefferson Laurel S. Terry

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