Justice Elena Kagan publicly called for strengthening the new ethics code of the U.S. Supreme Court by adding a means of enforcement, The Associated Press reports. In her first public remarks since the nation’s highest court wrapped up its term earlier this month, Kagan said she wouldn’t have signed onto the new rules if she didn’t believe they were good. But having good rules is not enough, she said. “The thing that can be criticized is, you know, rules usually have enforcement mechanisms attached to them, and this one — this set of rules — does not,” Kagan said at an annual judicial conference held by the 9th Circuit.
Kagan proposed that Chief Justice John Roberts could appoint a committee of respected judges to enforce the rules. After reports from ProPublica and The Associated Press, the court is now considering adopting an ethics code following undisclosed trips and partisan activity by some justices. Public confidence in the court has slipped sharply in recent years. In June, a survey for The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 4 in 10 U.S. adults have hardly any confidence in the justices and 70% believe they are more likely to be guided by their own ideology rather than serving as neutral arbiters.
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