The integrity of Supreme Court justices ought to be beyond reproach

Dear Tenney, The integrity of Supreme Court justices ought to be beyond reproach. Last week we told you that Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, because of their involvement with secret political meetings hosted by Koch Industries, may have had a conflict of interest when they issued their ruling in Citizens United -- the case that opened the floodgates of corporate and special interest spending on elections. And we challenged the Justice Department to investigate. (1) Now, Common Cause has discovered that Justice Thomas failed to disclose any of his wife's income between 2003 and 2009, though public documents show that she earned $686,589 from the Heritage Foundation, a think tank that works on issues that regularly come before the Supreme Court, and an unknown salary from Liberty Central, a political action group. We have brought the matter to the Judicial Conference of the United States. (2) Help us keep shining the spotlight on these issues by making a gift today! We have a right to open, honest and accountable government -- and that includes the justices who serve on the Supreme Court. We need a full accounting of Scalia and Thomas' involvement with Koch Industries, the second largest privately held company in the U.S., and a major player in political campaigns and in the Tea Party. Reports indicate that the Koch brothers have spent millions to influence elections, and regularly host secret strategy sessions with corporate leaders and political activists.* The public also deserves accurate answers on justices' disclosure forms, so that potential conflicts of interest are revealed before they can do harm. We won't back down until there has been a full investigation and airing of these issues. Please make a donation to help us keep up the pressure today! Thanks for all you do. Sincerely, Bob Edgar and the rest of the team at Common Cause (1) Common Cause Asks DOJ to Investigate Scalia and Thomas Over Citizens United,National Journal, January 19, 2011 (2) Clarence Thomas failed to report wife's income, watchdog says, Los Angeles Times, January 22, 2011 * The next Koch gathering will take place this weekend in Palm Springs, CA. Common Cause is hosting a panel called "Uncloaking the Kochs: The Billionaires' Caucus and its Threat to our Democracy" in Palm Springs on Sunday, featuring Robert Reich, Van Jones and other leaders. Sign up now to get a link to watch the live web stream of that event!

Forward this email

Join on Facebook

Follow on Twitter

Common Cause is a national nonpartisan organization with chapters in 35 states. The mailing address is 1133 19th Street NW, 9th Floor, Washington, DC 20036. The phone number is (202) 833-1200.