Weekly Spotlight: Ginni Thomas sides against ethics

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This week, ProPublica reported that Ginni Thomas privately applauded religious-rights group First Liberty Institute for countering the widespread calls to reform the Supreme Court, writing in an email to the group that they had “filled the sails of so many judges.”

The calls for reform that she disparages have been inspired, in large part, by her husband Justice Clarence Thomas’s mounting pile of ethics violations.

This is not the first time Ginni Thomas has been caught engaging in political issues related to the court, creating an appearance of conflict of interest that reflects acutely on her husband.

Partiality to a cause — or even the appearance of it — can cast major doubt on the independence of the court. With public trust in the court near a historic low, our justices need to be all the more vigilant about preserving the actual and perceived integrity of the institution. Ginni Thomas’s private display of appreciation for First Liberty Institute’s anti-ethics stance makes even more clear why we need ethics reform at the Supreme Court.

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