Justice Alito says Congress lacks the power to impose an ethics code on the Supreme Court

By MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Samuel Alito says Congress lacks the power to impose a code of ethics on the Supreme Court. He becomes the first member of the court to take a public stand against proposals in Congress to toughen ethics rules for the justices. Alito said in an interview published Friday in the Wall Street Journal’s opinion section that “no provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court—period.” The interview took place in New York in early July, the publication said. Last week, Democrats pushed Supreme Court ethics legislation through a Senate committee, though the bill’s prospects in the full Senate are dim. The legislation follows published reports about undisclosed trips taken by Justice Clarence Thomas and Alito.