00:00 The Supreme Court of the United States answers to no one, something that was highlighted
00:04 in recent times, in particular after Justice Clarence Thomas refused to recuse himself
00:09 from deliberating on the case related to the January 6th attack on the Capitol, one his
00:14 wife Ginny Thomas was implicated in.
00:16 Now, after immense pressure, SCOTUS has signed a new code of ethics, but experts say the
00:21 change of a single word has made the whole thing moot.
00:24 The new code of ethics for the Supreme Court has five doctrines, nearly the same word for
00:28 word as the one other judges of lower courts must sign.
00:32 While the one those judges sign reads, quote, "A judge shall disqualify himself or herself
00:37 in a proceeding in which the judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned," the new
00:41 SCOTUS code of conduct reads, "A judge should disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding
00:47 in which the judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned."
00:50 Legal experts say a change from "shall" to "should" leaves way too much legal wiggle
00:54 room and means the new code is toothless.
00:57 What's more, even if the change hadn't been made to the code, there's still no way to
01:01 enforce a complaint against the Supreme Court justice, as checks and balances means neither
01:06 Congress nor the President can tell a Supreme Court justice what to do, meaning this code
01:11 is little more than a PR stunt.
01:13 [MUSIC PLAYING]
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