Federal Judge Aileen Cannon, the Trump-appointed judge who dismissed the former president’s classified documents case earlier this year, failed to properly disclose her attendance at three conservative rallies, ProPublica reported. Tuesday.
The federal dispute brings new scrutiny to Cannon after a series of questionable decisions he made in the docket case, two of which have already been overturned by the circuit court.
“Judge Cannon constantly makes mistakes in and out of court,” Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor told Business Insider. “Someone knows what to do and still doesn’t obey the law.”
A representative for the Southern District of Florida did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.
Cannon’s press release it is just one example in a growing list of moral indifference focused on In America it is the seemingly untouchable lawyers in recent months.
Cannon’s revealing revelations go back to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ failure to disclose the scandal, which included a nine-day cruise vacation to Bali with GOP donor Harlan Crow and boarding many in private jet billion.
Meanwhile, Justice Samuel Alito received a luxury fishing trip from a different billionaire philanthropist who served as chairman of the group that filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court- Limo asks you to block student loan forgiveness.
So, why do the country’s judges keep breaking the rules?
Because they can.
“Government judges are gods, and they can get away with anything,” Rahmani said.
ProPublica reported that Cannon has failed three times to comply with a 2006 law that was intended to inform the public of the presence of jurors in secret paid meetings that could influence judges’ decisions on the bench.
According to the release, Cannon did not disclose that he attended a May 2023 ceremony honoring Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at the Center for Law and Economics at George Mason University, a conservative law school. More than 30 conservative federal judges, members of the Scalia family, and several members of the conservative Federalist Society also attended, ProPublica reported.
Who judges the judges?
But even with the rules in place — the Supreme Court’s observations were lacking until earlier this year — legal experts said there are often little consequences for justice that doesn’t conform to ethical standards. .
Federal judges serve for life and, for all intents and purposes, police officers themselves. Impeachment of a judge, meanwhile, requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate — a nonstarter given the extreme polarization of Congress.
“Right now there aren’t many remedies,” Scott Lemieux, a political science professor at the University of Washington and a constitutional expert, told BI.
That leaves the high courts as the only ones left to enforce judicial ethics. But legal experts said policing the judiciary is far from fair.
“There is a lack of central control, and judges are reluctant to judge other judges for their own mistakes,” said John J. Perlstein, a Los Angeles prosecutor.
As pressure on the courts mounts after several recent SCOTUS scandals, court watchers are desperate for a no-nonsense way to keep judges in line.
Earlier this summer, President Joe Biden asked Congress to implement term limits and effective ethics rules for Supreme Court justices.
Nine Supreme Court justices approved the code of conduct last year, modeling their new guidelines after laws governing federal judges. But legal experts said both lacked meaningful implementation, issuing laws for show only.
“It’s a big problem,” Rahamni said. “People have no faith in the justice system.”
California Representative Adam Schiff introduced a bill earlier this year that would expand penalties for federal judges who violate ethics laws. The law will apply the rules governing conflict of interest to the federal judiciary.
But even that solution creates confusion.
“Judges can correct it,” Lemieux said.