Senate Democrats pressure Roberts to rein in openly corrupt Alito

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has been going out of his way to demonstrate precisely why the court needs to either voluntarily adopt a code of ethics, or have it imposed on the justices by Congress. That’s the message Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats gave Chief Justice John Roberts in a letter Thursday, shouldering him with the responsibility of telling Alito to recuse himself from a case that will be heard during the next session.

Alito has been relying on The Wall Street Journal in recent weeks to tell his side of his ethics-abusing story. First, he was gifted an op-ed there to rebut ProPublica’s story about how he had enjoyed an all-expense-paid luxury fishing trip with a wealthy hedge fund manager who had business before the court. Then he granted a long softball interview to the paper, declaring that he and the court are above the law. That interview was with David Rivkin Jr., a regular contributor to the Journal; he also happens to be a lawyer who will be arguing before the court in a major tax case next session.

Alito’s brazen efforts to declare himself untouchable prove what Senate Democrats have been saying: The court needs to be reformed.