The ethical judgments of the Supreme Court justices have become an important issue recently. The court cannot (1)_______ its legitimacy as guardian of the rule of law (2)_______ justices behave like politicians. Yet, in several instances, justices acted in ways that (3)_______ the court’s reputation for being independent and impartial.
Justice Antonin Scalia, for example, appeared at political events. That kind of activity makes it less likely that the court’s decisions will be (4)_______ as impartial judgments. Part of the problem is that the justices are not (5)_______ by an ethics code. At the very least, the court should make itself. (6)_______ to the code of conduct that (7)_______ to the rest of the federal judiciary.
This and other similar cases (8)_______ the question of whether there is still a (9)_______ between the court and politics.
The framers of the Constitution envisioned law (10)_______ having authority apart from politics. They gave justices permanent positions (11)_______ they would be free to (12)_______ those in power and have no need to (13)_______ political support. Our legal system was designed to set law apart from politics precisely because they are so closely (14)_______ .
Constitutional law is political because it results from choices rooted in fundamental social (15)_______ like liberty and property. When the court deals with social policy decisions, the law it (16)_______ is inescapably political—which is why decisions split along ideological lines are so easily (17)_______ as unjust.
The justices must (18)_______ doubts about the court’s legitimacy by making themselves (19)_______ to the code of conduct. That would make their rulings more likely to be seen as separate from politics and, (20)_______, convincing as law.
