WASHINGTON, May 9, 2023 — The American Bar Association recognizes the need for the Supreme Court to adopt a binding code of judicial ethics and urges the justices to act now.
While an independent judiciary is the cornerstone of the rule of law, public support for that independence relies on public confidence in the legitimacy of the courts. People must believe judges act ethically according to standards firmly grounded in integrity and impartiality.
In an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll released in April, just 37% of respondents said they have a great deal or good amount of confidence in the Court, while 62% said the opposite. And a 2022 Gallup poll found that only 40 percent of respondents approved of the job the Supreme Court was doing, the lowest since polling began in 2001.