We are here today because the Supreme Court is playing out of bounds of the ethics rules

for federal judges.

Last week, Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse spoke at a hearing on Supreme Court ethics reform.

It was about a slew of revelations that several Supreme Court justices did not disclose

their potential conflicts of interest.

The Court has conclusively proven that it cannot police itself.

Justices are supposed to basically do what Senator Whitehouse said, police themselves.

And this includes saying whether they've taken any money or gifts from people that might

compromise them.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Chief Justice John Roberts have all recently

been the subjects of media reports and controversies.

I don't think all of these stories are created equal.

I think that some are more a dire for the Court or more serious for the Court to deal with

than some others.

And some point out not so much what the Justice has done wrong, but maybe that the disclosure

laws are not strict enough or specific enough for what people want to know about their public

officials.

It's Bob Barnes.

He covers the Supreme Court for the post.

And Bob says that while these stories have varying degrees of seriousness, they all point

to a much larger question.

It's what do we, as citizens, expect of public officials, not just on the Supreme Court,

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