David Rudenstine, Sheldon H. Solow Professor of Law and former Dean of Cardozo School of Law, published an opinion piece in The Hill on January 10, 2025 about crisis at the Supreme Court. He argues that much of the distrust that the public feels for the court is warranted, and in order to fix this problem, Chief Justice John Roberts should implement an enforcable code of ethics for him and his fellow justices to follow.
“In worrying about the court and whether the American people will comply with its rulings, Roberts fails to acknowledge any of these highly relevant factors that damage the court’s public standing. He surely knows of them and their relevance, but he adopts an ostrich posture, with his head buried, and that too contributes to the court’s very condition that he bemoans in his annual report. If Roberts wants to address the problems the court confronts, he should lift his head out of the sand, look in the mirror, and then act accordingly, starting with an actionable code of ethics,” Rudenstine writes.