“The Court then follows up with event organizers to elicit further information as appropriate,” the statement said. In a statement responding to questions, the Supreme Court said: “The Court routinely asks event organizers to confirm that an event at which a Justice will speak is not a fundraiser, and it provides a definition of ‘fundraiser’ in order to avoid misunderstandings.” “I don’t think they are naive, but they certainly have been putting themselves in situations where people can credibly claim, ‘I’m giving you access,’ or ‘I’m going to fundraise off my claimed closeness or access.’ And that is a problem.” “The justices should be aware that people are selling access to them,” said University of Virginia law professor Amanda Frost, an ethics expert. But the Supreme Court’s definition of banned fundraising is so narrow -– simply an event that raises more than it costs or where guests are asked for donations -– that it does not account for soliciting contributors later while reminding them of the special access they were afforded. The conduct would likely be prohibited if done by lower court federal judges. The documents also reveal that justices spanning the court’s ideological divide have lent the prestige of their positions to partisan activity, headlining speaking events with prominent politicians, or advanced their own personal interests, such as sales of their books, through college visits. The Associated Press obtained tens of thousands of pages of emails and other documents that reveal the extent to which public colleges and universities have seen visits by justices as opportunities to generate donations - regularly putting justices in the room with influential donors, including some whose industries have had interests before the court. After Justice Sonia Sotomayor confirmed she would attend a 2017 question-and-answer session at Clemson University and a private luncheon, officials there made sure to invite $1 million-plus donors to the South Carolina college. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)īefore Justice Elena Kagan visited the University of Colorado’s law school in 2019, one official in Boulder suggested a “larger donor to staff ratio” for a dinner with her.
FILE – Former Baylor University president Ken Starr, left, introduces Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, right, to a crowd at McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas, Sept.(Glenn Osmundson/The Providence Journal via AP)
FILE – Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor receives an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree during the University of Rhode Island commencement ceremony on May 22, 2016, in South Kingstown, R.I.(Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald via AP, File)
FILE – Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas laughs before speaking to an audience at McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas, on Sept.(AP Photo/Tyler Morning Telegraph, Herb Nygren Jr., File) Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas holds his notes for his speech at the University of Texas at Tyler Cowan Center on Sept.
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