Today’s miscellaneous political stuff - Part 10

Now Roberts may have a big problem.

Another SCOTUS scandal: Chief justice’s spouse makes millions placing attorneys at top law firms that argue before the court
David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement
January 31, 2023

The highly controversial and highly unpopular U.S. Supreme Court isn’t just facing a historic loss of confidence, it’s now facing yet another ethics scandal that is likely to lower even further public opinion of the far-right institution that in under two decades has seen its approval rating slashed.

Although it will not hear arguments, the issue before the Supreme Court and the American people’s view of it, is, should a Justice’s spouse – in this case the spouse of Chief Justice John Roberts – be able to make millions of dollars recruiting attorneys who are placed into top law firms that argue cases before it?

That’s the latest allegation, and already a spokesperson for the Court has issued a statement denying any ethical violations.

The New York Times reports that “a former colleague of Mrs. Roberts has raised concerns that her recruiting work poses potential ethics issues for the chief justice. Seeking an inquiry, the ex-colleague has provided records to the Justice Department and Congress indicating Mrs. Roberts has been paid millions of dollars in commissions for placing lawyers at firms — some of which have business before the Supreme Court, according to a letter obtained by The New York Times.”

Jane Sullivan Roberts left a law firm where she was a partner after her spouse was confirmed as Chief Justice.

“Mrs. Roberts, according to a 2015 deposition,” The Times reports, “said that a significant portion of her practice was devoted to helping senior government lawyers land jobs at law firms and that the candidates’ names were almost never disclosed.”

Documents in that case “list six-figure fees credited to Mrs. Roberts for placing partners at law firms — including $690,000 in 2012 for one such match. The documents do not name clients, but Mr. Price recalled her recruitment of one prominent candidate, Ken Salazar, then interior secretary under President Barack Obama, to WilmerHale, a global firm that boasts of arguing more than 125 times before the Supreme Court.”
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Doug Lindner, Advocacy Director for Judiciary & Democracy for the League of Conservation Voters, pointing to the Times’ report, remarked: “Another day, another ethics concern about another life-tenured conservative justice on the most powerful court in the world, which has no binding ethics rules.”

Indeed, the lack of a Supreme Court code of ethics has been repeatedly condemned for years, including by some of the nation’s top critics.

www.rawstory.com/another-scotus-scandal-chief-justices-spouse-makes-millions-placing-attorneys-at-top-law-firms-that-argue-before-the-court/

Josh Hawley getting slammed by local paper, again!!

The Democrat running against Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) is being criticized by Republicans for having a "fake southern accent." But St. Louis' Riverfront Times thinks that Lucas Kunce "sounds like Missouri."
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The comments are a reference to a Kansas City Star editorial board post alleging Hawley "scoffs" at the residency requirements for Missouri candidates. Reports from the Star revealed that Hawley actually lives in a $1.3 million home in Northern Virginia and uses his sister's address in the Ozarks to vote.

www.rawstory.com/josh-hawley-accennt-virginia/