A report released on Thursday pointed to the Supreme Court’s ethics scandals, revealing that the justices have received over 300 gifts worth $3 million in the last 20 years, Courthouse News reports. Last year, the justices signed an ethics code: they can accept reasonable compensation and reimbursement for permitted activities, but gifts over $480 in 2023 must be reported on financial disclosures. This week, Judiciary watchdog Fix the Court unveiled a detailed account of the value of the gifts received and a critique of the handouts, by Gabe Roth, the watchdog's executive director, who said. "Supreme Court justices should not be accepting gifts, let alone the hundreds of freebies worth millions of dollars they've received over the years."
From January 2004 to December 2023, the nine justices accepted 344 gifts valued at almost $3 million. That total grows to over $4.7 million when adding in 202 additional gifts accepted by the eight justices who have left the court since 2004. Justice Clarence Thomas has accepted over twice as many gifts as any other justice, with a total of 103 gifts totaling $2,402,310. Fix the Court identified an additional 101 gifts likely received. The additional $1.7 million in gifts brings Thomas’ gift total to over $4 million. Thomas’ trips on private jets, detailed in reporting from ProPublica, were among the most expensive gifts he accepted. Only 8.5% of the gifts noted by Fix the Court were reported in Thomas’ financial disclosure forms. Justice Antonin Scalia came in second in total gifts received, with over $210,000, while Justice Samuel Alito's $170,095 total landed him third. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg accepted over $59,000 in gifts and an $8,220 flight from the Supreme Court of Korea. Chief Justice John Roberts accepted over $49,000 in gifts including honorary memberships to clubs. Justice Sonia Sotomayor received almost $16,000 worth of gifts, and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson received almost $9,000 in gifts.
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