Ruth Ginsburg has blasted Donald Trump in a public interview. This is unprecedented.
According to an NYU law professor writing in the New York Times, the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges says that judges should not "make speeches for a political candidate, or publicly endorse or oppose a candidate for public office” or “engage in any other political activity.”
Although this language binds every lower court federal judge, it does not bind the justices.
This means that the Supreme Court justices are above the law--even on judicial ethics.
It is crazy that we have allowed any institution in government to be the judge of the extent of its own power.
We have to put real checks and balances on the Court, not only by forcing the Court to comply with legal ethics but by giving the states the ability to vacate the blatant political decisions rendered by the Court.
The only way to put these kind of checks on the Court is through a Convention of States.
The most fundamental policy questions of this country must be made by elected legislators or the people themselves--not five to four votes among the alumni of a handful of Ivy League law schools.
Michael Farris a constitutional scholar and co-founder of the Convention of States Project. This article was originally published on Michael Farris's Facebook page.