Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act of 2022”.
Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act of 2022
A BILL
To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for a code of conduct for justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Code of conduct for the Supreme Court of the United States
In general— Chapter 16 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“365. Codes of conduct
“(a) Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Supreme Court of the United States shall, after appropriate public notice and opportunity for comment in accordance with section 2071, issue a code of conduct for the justices of the Supreme Court.
“(b) Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Judicial Conference of the United States shall, after appropriate public notice and opportunity for comment in accordance with section 2071, issue a code of conduct for the judges of the courts of appeals, the district courts (including bankruptcy judges and magistrate judges), and the Court of International Trade.
“(c) The Supreme Court of the United States and the Judicial Conference may modify the applicable codes of conduct under this section after giving appropriate public notice and opportunity for comment in accordance with section 2071.”
Technical and conforming amendment— The table of sections for chapter 16 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
Sec. 3 Minimum disclosure standards for justices of the supreme court
Section 677 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(d) The Counselor, with the approval of the Chief Justice, shall establish rules governing the disclosure of all gifts, reimbursements, and income received by any justice and any law clerk to a justice. Such rules shall at minimum require disclosure of any information concerning gifts, income, and reimbursements required to be disclosed under the Standing Rules of the Senate and the Rules of the House of Representatives.”
Sec. 4 Circumstances requiring disqualification
Anticorruption protections— Subsection (b) of section 455 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(6) Where the justice, judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge of the United States knows that a party to the proceeding or an affiliate of a party to the proceeding made any lobbying contact or spent substantial funds in support of the nomination, confirmation, or appointment of the justice, judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge of the United States.
“(7) Where the justice, judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge of the United States, their spouse, minor child, or a privately-held entity owned by any such person—
“(A) received income, a gift, or reimbursement (as such terms are defined in the section 109 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)) from a party to the proceeding or an affiliate of a party to the proceeding; and
“(B) such receipt occurred during the period beginning 6 years prior to the date on which the justice, judge, bankruptcy judge, or magistrate judge was assigned to the proceeding and ending on the date of final disposition of the proceeding.”
Duty To know— Subsection (c) of section 455 of title 28, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
“(c) A justice, judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge of the United States shall ascertain—
“(1) the personal and fiduciary financial interests of the justice or judge of the United States;
“(2) the personal financial interests of the spouse and minor children residing in the household of the justice or judge of the United States; and
“(3) any interest of such persons that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding.”
Divestment— Subsection (f) of section 455 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting “under subsection (b)(4)” after “disqualified”.
Duty To notify— Section 455 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(g) If a justice, judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge learns of a condition that could reasonably require disqualification under this section, the justice, judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge shall immediately notify all parties to the proceeding.”
Technical and conforming amendments— Section 455 of title 28, United States Code, as amended by this section, is further amended—
in the section heading, by striking “judge, or magistrate judge” and inserting “judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge”;
in subsection (a), by striking “judge, or magistrate judge” and inserting “judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge”;
in subsection (b)—
in paragraph (2), by striking “the judge or such lawyer” and inserting “the justice, the judge, or such lawyer”;
in paragraph (5)(iii), by inserting “justice or” before “judge”; and
in paragraph (5)(iv), by inserting “justice’s or” before “judge’s”;
in subsection (c), by inserting “justice or” before “judge”;
in subsection (d)(4)(i), by inserting “justice or” before “judge”; and
in subsection (e), by striking “judge, or magistrate judge” and inserting “judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge”.
Public notice— The rules of each court subject to section 455 of title 28, United States Code, as amended by this Act, shall be amended to require that the clerk shall publish timely notice on the website of the court of—
any matter in which a justice, judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge of the United States is disqualified under such section;
any matter in which the reviewing panel under section 1660 of title 28, United States Code, rules on a motion to disqualify; and
an explanation of each reason for the disqualification or ruling, which shall include a specific identification of each circumstance that resulted in such disqualification or ruling.
Sec. 5 Review of certified disqualification motions
In general— Chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“1660. Review of certified motions to disqualify
“(a) Motion for disqualification—If a justice, judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge is required to be disqualified from a proceeding under any provision of Federal law, a party to the proceeding may file a timely motion for disqualification, accompanied by a certificate of good faith and an affidavit alleging facts sufficient to show that disqualification of the justice, judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge is so required.
“(b) Consideration of motion—A justice, judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge shall either grant or certify to a reviewing panel a timely motion filed pursuant to subsection (a) and stay the proceeding until a final determination is made with respect to the motion.
“(c) Reviewing panel
“(1) In general—A reviewing panel to which a motion is certified under subsection (b) shall be selected at random from judges of the United States who do not sit on the same court—
“(A) as the judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge who is the subject of the motion; or
“(B) as the other members of the reviewing panel.
“(2) Circuit limitation—Not more than 1 member of the reviewing panel may be a judge of the same judicial circuit as the judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge who is the subject of the motion.
“(d) Supreme Court Review—The Supreme Court of the United States shall be the reviewing panel for a motion seeking to disqualify a justice.”
Technical and conforming amendment— The table of sections for chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
Sec. 6 Disclosure by parties and amici
The Supreme Court of the United States shall prescribe rules of procedure in accordance with sections 2072 through 2074 of title 28, United States Code, requiring each party or amicus to list in their petition or brief a description and value of—
any gift, income, or reimbursement (as such terms are defined in section 109 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)) provided to any justice or law clerk to a justice during the period beginning 2 years prior to the commencement of the proceeding and ending on the date of final disposition of the proceeding by—
each such party or amicus, or their affiliates;
the lawyers or law firms in the proceeding of each such party or amicus; and
the officers, directors, or employees of each such party or amicus; and
any lobbying contact or expenditure of substantial funds by any person described in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of paragraph (1) in support of the nomination, confirmation, or appointment of a justice.
Sec. 7 Amicus disclosure
In general— Chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, as amended by section 5, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
“1661. Disclosures related to amicus activities
“(a) Definition—In this section, the term “covered amicus” means any person, including any affiliate of the person, that files an amicus brief in a calendar year in the Supreme Court of the United States or a court of appeals of the United States.
“(b) Disclosure
“(1) In general—Any covered amicus that files an amicus brief in the Supreme Court of the United States or a court of appeals of the United States shall list in the amicus brief the name of any person who—
“(A) contributed to the preparation or submission of the amicus brief;
“(B) contributed not less than 3 percent of the gross annual revenue of the covered amicus for the previous calendar year if the covered amicus is not an individual; or
“(C) contributed more than $100,000 to the covered amicus in the previous calendar year.
“(2) Exceptions—The requirements of this subsection shall not apply to amounts received by a covered amicus described in paragraph (1) in commercial transactions in the ordinary course of any trade or business conducted by the covered amicus or in the form of investments (other than investments by the principal shareholder in a limited liability corporation) in an organization if the amounts are unrelated to the amicus filing activities of the covered amicus.
“(c) Audit—The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct an annual audit to ensure compliance with this section.”
Technical and conforming amendment— The table of sections for chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, as amended by section 5, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
Sec. 8 Conflicts related to amici curiae
In general— Except as provided in subsection (b), the Supreme Court of the United States and the Judicial Conference of the United States shall prescribe rules of procedure in accordance with sections 2072 through 2074 of title 28, United States Code, for prohibiting the filing of or striking an amicus brief that would result in the disqualification of a justice, judge, or magistrate judge.
Initial transmittal— The Supreme Court of the United States shall transmit to Congress—
the proposed rules required under subsection (a) not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act; and
any rules in addition to those transmitted under paragraph (1) pursuant to section 2074 of title 28, United States Code.