Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Dick Durbin (D-Ill) slammed Samuel Alito on Wednesday after the Supreme Court justice said last week that Congress has no authority to regulate the Supreme Court.
“Justice Alito is providing speculative public commentary on a bill that is still going through the legislative process. Let’s be clear: Justice Alito is not the 101st member of the United States Senate. His intervention in Article I activity is unwise and unwelcome,” Durbin said in a statement.
Durbin’s comments comes after Alito told the Wall Street Journal in an interview last week that there is “no provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court — period.”
“If we’re viewed as illegitimate, then disregard of our decisions becomes more acceptable and more popular,” he added.
Last month the Senate Judiciary committee past passed legislation that would require the Supreme Court to adopt an ethics code and implement procedures to handle complaints of judicial misconduct. It also n require the Supreme Court to impose stricter rules for the disclosure of gifts, travel and income received by the justices and their law clerks, according to CBS News.
Alito has come under fire for failing to disclose a luxury fishing trip with a billionaire who later had business before the Supreme Court.
“The ethical conduct of Supreme Court Justices is a serious matter within this Committee’s jurisdiction. Ensuring ethical conduct by the justices is critical to the Court’s legitimacy,” Durbin said. “The next time Justice Alito thinks about taking a private plane to a billionaire-funded fishing trip, he should have to ask more than ‘Can I take this empty seat?’ He should have to ask if doing so is consistent with his legally-mandated ethical obligations.”
