Growing the Voices of Our Future
The Westside Gazette Newspaper is honored to feature these editorial contributions made by local students.
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee called on Chief Justice John Roberts to investigate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s extravagant travel arrangements, which were funded by a Republican donor and that they believed to be in violation of the moral standards expected of “any person in a position of public trust.” Chairman Richard Durbin and the other 10 Democratic members of the committee wrote to Roberts announcing that the committee would hold a hearing on the subject in the upcoming days. They stated that the hearing’s main topic would be “the need to reestablish trust in the Supreme Court’s ethical standards.” They informed Roberts that if the court could not settle the matter on its own, the committee would consider passing legislation to do so. But you don’t have to wait for Congress to take action to investigate the reported behavior and make sure it won’t happen again. We implore you to do it. According to a ProPublica report published on Thursday, Thomas took lavish vacations from Republican donor and real estate tycoon Harlan Crow over a period of decades without disclosing them. On Friday, Thomas defended the trips, saying he had been told he was not required to report that type of “personal hospitality.” However, the conservative justice stated that he would follow the new, stricter rules that went into effect recently. According to Crow, he “never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue.” The senators wrote to Roberts, saying, “You have a role to play, both in investigating how such conduct could occur at the court under your watch, and in ensuring that such conduct does not occur again.”
Submitted by Layla Davidson
