Unsurprisingly former President Obama’s pick for the Supreme Court, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, has been a major draw for schools and libraries as she tells her rags-to-riches story about growing up in the Bronx to becoming a Supreme Court Justice.
Yet these appearances aren’t to share her story to encourage people. Instead, they are to push hundreds to thousands of the books she has written over the years.
Pushing institutions to have copies of the justice’s book on hand, her books have made her over $3.7 million since she joined the Supreme Court back in 2009.
Through over 100 public information requests, the Associated Press has discovered the details of these events. Details that occur behind the scenes add up to thousands of pages in documents. It also detailed the actions of other justices behind the scenes.
One of the biggest discoveries is Sotomayor’s use of her taxpayer-funded court staff working specifically for the justice’s book venture. Actions that are not allowed for other government officials.
With the Supreme Court lacking a formal code of conduct, the nine justices are widely known to write their own rules and enforce them as they see fit. To many, this is reminiscent of the “good old boys club” that the left tries to claim is a conservative-only issue.
Staffers have long been involved in the organization of speaking gigs with the intention to sell books. With members of Congress and the executive branch being prohibited from doing this, many wonder if the justices have lent out staffers to do their dirty work for them. While this is not yet confirmed, many are suspicious of it.
In a statement, the Supreme Court claimed they are working with the justices to “complying with judicial ethics guidance for such visits… When (Sotomayor) is invited to participate in a book program, Chambers staff recommends the number of books (for an organization to order) based on the size of the audience so as not to disappoint attendees who may anticipate books being available at an event.”
A defense like this is not the way the American people should be played on this subject. Instead, they need to have the support of knowing that our justices are doing the right thing when nobody is looking.
Considering the AP is reporting an even split along conservative-liberal justices, you can rest assured that the liberals are doing far more of this than the conservatives are.
However, this puts the American people in a tough place.
For years people have accepted that supreme court justices are chosen by the President in office when it’s time for a new one. If it’s a conservative in office, we’ll get a conservative justice, and vice versa. While not a perfect system, it works pretty well. Yet with no term limits or code of ethics to keep them fair and balanced, the court can easily become tipped in one direction or another.
For many, the idea of a conservative strong Supreme Court sounds like a dream come true. However, as we have seen when that happens, the liberal justices go nuts trying to do everything they can to push their issues through and accept liberally focused cases.
Unlike other branches of government, this is one area where having a fair and balanced system is incredibly crucial.
This report signifies what many have suspected for years. The Supreme Court justices have been allowed to run around unchecked and do what they think is best. With no oversight, they have been allowed to do it in any way they see fit.
This kind of unlimited power not only poisons the well but it takes advantage of the American people, and that isn’t what the Supreme Court was built for.
