Talk Radio – May 2: Supreme Misconduct?

These are the issues we will cover during this show.

GUESTS

Edward Ward: 12:00 PM – 12:57 PM Eastern Time
Restorative Justice Policy Advocate and 2022 TJC Alumni and Fellow

Breon Clark-Ward: 12:00 PM – 12:57 PM Eastern Time
2023 TJC Alumni and Fellow 

Prof. F. Michael Higginbotham, Esq., Ph.D: 12:00 PM – 12:28 PM Eastern Time
Member of the District of Columbia Bar and Professor who specializes in Constitutional Law; Equal Protection; Human Rights; and, Race Relations; Ph.D. (hon.) Shenandoah University; LL.M., Cambridge University; J.D., Yale University; A.B., Brown University; Co-founder of the Fannie Angelos Program for Academic Excellence; former interim dean of the University of Baltimore School of Law; former President of the Public Justice Center; former chair of the Maryland Attorney General’s Task Force on Electronic Weapons; former chairperson of the Association of American Law Schools Committee on Recruitment and Retention of Minority Faculty; Former law clerk to United States Court of Appeals Judge Cecil F. Poole; Former associate with Davis, Polk and Wardwell in Washington, D.C.; former lecturer in law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Author of the book Ghosts of Jim Crow: Ending Racism In Post-Racial America , New York University Press (February 2013); Author of the Casebook, Race Law: Cases,Commentary, and Questions , (Fourth Edition), Carolina Academic Press (June 2015); Author of articles and essays published in numerous law reviews including the New York University Law Review, University of Hawaii Law Review, Howard University Law Journal, and the University of Illinois Law Review; Has had guest appearances on CNN Tonight discussing Political Gerrymanders, Racism Against American Indians, Racism, and Blackface

Prof. Karsonya “Kaye” Wise Whitehead, Ph.D: 12:28 PM – 12:57 PM Eastern Time
President of the National Women’s Studies Association; Associate Professor for Communication and African and African American Studies at Loyola University Maryland; Founder and Director of the Karson Institute for Race, Peace, and Social Justice at Loyola; an award-winning author of four books; Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), in Language, Literacy, and Culture from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Master’s in International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana; and, undergraduate degree in history from Lincoln University, PA; Her talk show, Today with Dr. Kaye, which airs weekdays on WEAA 88.9 FM, was selected as a finalist for Best Talk Show by the Chesapeake Broadcast Press Awards, and for the fourth year in a row in 2022, she was a finalist for Best Editorial or Commentary; In 2022, The Daily Record saluted Whitehead as one of Maryland’s 2022 Top 100 Women. In 2021, she was the recipient of the Regional Edward R. Murrow Award in the inaugural category for Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The Afro selected her as one of their two 2021 Newsmakers of the Year, and she received the Baltimore Business Journal’s Leaders in Diversity Award

SHOW DESCRIPTION AND BACKGROUND

“On 6 April, an investigation by ProPublica found that Justice Clarence Thomas had, over decades, accepted millions of dollars’ worth of private plane flights, ‘superyacht’ trips and luxury vacations from the Texas billionaire and conservative megadonor Harlan Crow – and that, in alleged violation of federal ethics law, he had not disclosed almost any of it. Subsequent reporting revealed that Crow had in fact bought Thomas’s childhood home in Savannah, Georgia, where the justice’s elderly mother still lives, along with several plots on the block. After paying Thomas for the real estate, the billionaire cleared local blight, made significant renovations to the house and allowed Thomas’s mother to continue living there, rent-free. None of those transactions had been detailed on Thomas’s ethics forms, either. In addition to the soft influence Crow would have been able to buy with his extensive largesse, the billionaire’s generous gifts also seem to have created a direct conflict of interest for Justice Thomas: Crow’s firm had business before the US supreme court at least once, and Thomas did not recuse himself from the case. It is not Thomas’s first time in ethical hot water. He was famously accused of sexual harassment by multiple women, including Anita Hill, during his time in the Reagan administration as head of the employee-rights protection watchdog, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He has been accused of having perjured himself in his subsequent testimony about his behavior toward Hill at his confirmation hearings. During his long tenure on the court, he has repeatedly had trouble filling out his financial disclosure forms correctly. Once, he failed to report more than half a million dollars in income that his wife, the conservative activist Ginni Thomas, received from the rightwing Heritage Foundation. He said at the time that he had misunderstood the forms. That was also his excuse regarding Harlan Crow’s largesse. Thomas claims that he was advised that he did not have to report ‘hospitality’. It is a loophole in the ethics code that is meant to relieve judges of having to report, say, barbecue dinners at the homes of their neighbors – not, as Thomas claims he took it to mean, luxury yacht tours of Indonesia.

“…Politico revealed this week that just nine days after his confirmation to the US supreme court in April 2017, Justice Neil Gorsuch sold a log cabin in Colorado to Brian Duffy, the chief executive of the prominent law firm Greenberg Traurig. Before Gorsuch’s confirmation, the justice and the other co-owners of the home had tried for two years to sell it, without success. Since the sale, Duffy’s firm has had business before the court at least 22 times. Gorsuch did disclose the income from the sale on financial disclosure forms, but failed to mention that the buyer was a big shot at one of the country’s largest law firms who would regularly bring cases before Gorsuch at his new job. It’s certainly possible that Duffy simply liked the house, and that the convenient timing of his purchase so soon after Gorsuch’s confirmation to the court was a mere coincidence. And it seems reasonable to believe Thomas and Crow when they say that they are sincere friends, if less reasonable to believe Thomas when he claims that he misunderstood his disclosure obligations. But corruption need not be as vulgar and direct as a quid pro quo: it can be the subtle machinations of influence and sympathy that occur in these relationships, inflected both by money and by closeness, that lead the justices to see cases as they otherwise wouldn’t, or act in ways contrary to the integrity of their office and the interests of the law.”

People are saying lawyers would be disbarred, and judges at various state court levels would be expelled, but SCOTUS has no such ethical rules, and given all the corruption coming out, it’s affecting Americans views of the courts and making the Court be viewed cynically. Meanwhile, “Chief Justice John Roberts is doubling down on his claim that the U.S. Supreme Court needs no ethics reforms in the wake of bombshell reports that at least two justices have engaged in what some consider corruption. Late Monday afternoon, in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats (below), the Chief Justice revealed the Statement on Ethics Principles and Practices he had sent as proof of his justices’ dedication to ethics, which was adopted unanimously, had been signed the very day he sent it to Chairman Dick Durbin: April 25. He also revealed that the last time Supreme Court justices had adopted a statement on ethics was 30 years ago, in 1993. While Supreme Court justices have a lifetime appointment, that would mean that only Justice Clarence Thomas had signed onto the code of ethics before last week…and the Chief Justice is facing public scrutiny after it was revealed his wife has made over $10 million by placing attorneys into law firms, some of which have business before the Supreme Court…On Tuesday the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on ethics reform for the Supreme Court. Chairman Durbin had invited the Chief Justice to attend, or send a justice of his choosing in his [place], but Roberts refused. Tuesday’s hearing begins at 10 AM ET. You can watch it live here.” “John Roberts, chief justice of the US supreme court, was brief in his missive to Democratic senator Dick Durbin, who chairs the Senate judiciary committee. Citing ‘separation of powers concerns and the importance of preserving judicial independence’, Roberts declined to appear before the committee to discuss disturbing recent revelations of ethics violations at the court…Congress is meant to exert checks on judicial power – to investigate or even impeach judges who abuse their office or interpret the law in ways that violate its spirit, and to affirm that the elected branches will hold more sway over policy than the appointed one.”

Igniting Change will discuss this corruption as well as the upcoming “Freedom To Learn” May 3rd Day of Action. On May 3rd, the African American Policy Forum (AAPF), “The Civil Rights Big 8”, the Divine Nine, TJC, the American Federation of Teachers, the National Educators’ Association, and many other organizations will be holding a day of action under the theme of “Freedom To Learn” to protest and demand change regarding laws and practices banning books and denying African-American history. In previous shows, Igniting Change has covered the controversies over book banning by eighteen states and numerous school districts and Florida Gov. Ron Desantis’ rejection of the College Board’s revised advanced placement African-American studies course. In revising the Course, the College Board eliminated 28 African-American scholars, including our frequent guest, Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw, President of AAPF. On Monday, April 24th, the College Board issued a cryptic announcement that it is going to – yet again- revise the AP African American studies course. Exacerbating these issues, CBS News did a major segment covering “Moms for Liberty”, a Right-Wing book-banning group, that people claim normalized them in their portrayal of as “advocates for parental rights” and their hateful rhetoric without giving any airtime to a single African American person during the entire segment.

One of the planned actions on May 3rd in New York and D.C. will focus on protests at the offices of the College Board. TJC Board Chair Daryl Jones, Esq. will speak at the D.C. protest and TJC President Barbara Arnwine will participate in a press conference in New Orleans. TJC is also planning a Juneteenth mobilization march: the Juneteenth “Stay Woke Florida” Rolling Protest! This day of action will discuss the banning of freedom of knowledge and free speech

Our show will highlight the upcoming May 3rd and Juneteenth Days of Action and explore with expert guests these controversies and the attacks on Gen Z voters, such as the tweet by Brigitte Gabriel saying “Raise the voting age to 21. Bring back the draft. Gen Z is a disaster that requires emergency correction.” and the reporting about Cleta Mitchell, a top Republican legal strategist, wanting to limit college student voting. Mitchell “told a roomful of GOP donors over the weekend that conservatives must band together to limit voting on college campuses, same-day voter registration and automatic mailing of ballots to registered voters, according to a copy of her presentation reviewed by The Washington Post. Cleta Mitchell, a longtime GOP lawyer and fundraiser who worked closely with former president Donald Trump to try to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, gave the presentation at a Republican National Committee donor retreat in Nashville on Saturday. The presentation — which had more than 50 slides and was labeled ‘A Level Playing Field for 2024’ — offered a window into a strategy that seems designed to reduce voter access and turnout among certain groups, including students and those who vote by mail, both of which tend to skew Democratic.”

QUESTIONS

FIRST SEGMENT

• Prof. Higginbotham, how have you reacted to revelations over the last year regarding ethical violations concerning Chief Justice Roberts’ wife, Justice Alito and his wife, Justice Thomas and his wife, and, more recently, Justice Gorsuch?
• What was your opinion of the recent letter sent by Chief Justice Roberts to the Senate judiciary committee saying he feels no need for ethical regulation of the Supreme Court?
• How is this issue of ethical violations in the Supreme Court being discussed among the legal profession and in the academy?

SEGMENT TWO:

• What do you think are the implications for the federal judiciary if this situation is unaddressed?
• What would you recommend be done to address this situation at the Supreme Court?
• Edward Ward and Breon Clark-Ward, how has your friends been reacting to this situation at the Court? 
• What do you think should be done?
• Prof. Higginbotham, What are your final thoughts to our listeners?
• Thank you for all of your hard work. How do our listeners get in contact with you?

SEGMENT THREE (Just Karsonya “Kaye” Wise Whitehead, Ph.D)

• What is the National Women’s Studies Association?
• Why is this issue of book banning a priority for the organization?
• Looking forward to working with you on May 3rd. Can you describe, for our audience, what is the May 3rd “Freedom To Learn” Day of Action and why is it important? Tell us about some of the events that have you excited that will be happening on May 3rd. What is planned for Washington, D.C.?
• What are the ways people can become involved on May 3rd?
• What made you create the The Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice at Loyola University Maryland?

SEGMENT FOUR (all guests)

• Having heard all about the May 3rd activism and the fight back against book banning, there’s another ugly looming struggle in the U.S. that’s happening in the States: suppressing the student vote by removing polling places on college campuses; making residency requirements stricter; not allowing student ID for identification purposes; and by many other means. How should the Gen Z vote organize itself in light of these challenges?
• How does your Gen Z and Millennial Votes Matter Training and other experiences help you to look at these issues?
• Prof. Wise Whitehead, what are your final thoughts to our listeners?
• Thank you for all of your hard work. How do our listeners get in contact with you?