II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5268 

To prohibit Federal judges from receiving certain gifts, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024 

Mr. LUJA ́N (for himself, Mr. WELCH, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mr. WYDEN) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To prohibit Federal judges from receiving certain gifts, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘High Court Gift Ban 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON GIFTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter V of Chapter 73 of 

8 title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

9 end the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 7354. Gifts to Federal judges 

2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section 

3 ‘‘(1) GIFT.—The term ‘gift’ means any gra4 tuity, favor, discount, entertainment, hospitality, 

5 loan, forbearance, or other item having monetary 

6 value (including services, transportation, local travel, 

7 lodgings, and meals) whether provided in-kind, by 

8 purchase of a ticket, payment in advance, or reim9 bursement after the expense has been incurred. 

10 ‘‘(2) JUDICIAL OFFICER; RELATIVE.—The 

11 terms ‘judicial officer’ and ‘relative’ have the mean12 ings given the term in section 13101. 

13 ‘‘(3) PERSONAL HOSPITALITY FROM AN INDI14 VIDUAL.—The term ‘personal hospitality from an in15 dividual’ means hospitality extended— 

16 ‘‘(A) by an individual for a nonbusiness 

17 purpose; 

18 ‘‘(B) at the personal residence, property, 

19 or facilities owned by the individual or the fam20 ily of the individual; 

21 ‘‘(C) without payment or reimbursement 

22 from any other person (except the judicial offi23 cer or a relative of the judicial officer) for such 

24 hospitality; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) with the individual or the family of 

2 the individual present on the property at the 

3 time in which a judicial officer is being hosted. 

4 ‘‘(4) PROHIBITED SOURCE.—The term ‘prohib5 ited source’ means any person— 

6 ‘‘(A) who has, or is likely to, come before 

7 the judicial officer; or 

8 ‘‘(B) whose interests have, or are likely to, 

9 come before the judicial officer. 

10 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A judicial officer may not 

12 accept a gift from any source unless— 

13 ‘‘(A) the judicial officer reasonably and in 

14 good faith believes the gift has a value of less 

15 than $50; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the aggregate value of gifts the judi17 cial officer has received from the source in that 

18 calendar year is $100 or less, including the 

19 value of the gift. 

20 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—The prohibition under 

21 paragraph (1) does not apply to any of the following 

22 circumstances: 

23 ‘‘(A) Anything for which the judicial offi24 cer pays the fair market value. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Anything for which the judicial offi2 cer does not use and promptly returns to the 

3 person who provided the gift to the judicial offi4 cer. 

5 ‘‘(C) A gift from a relative. 

6 ‘‘(D) A gift from another judicial officer. 

7 ‘‘(E) Honorary degrees (and associated 

8 travel, food, refreshments, and entertainment) 

9 and other bona fide, nonmonetary awards pre10 sented in recognition of public service (and as11 sociated food, refreshments, and entertainment 

12 provided in the presentation of such degrees 

13 and awards) paid for by an educational institu14 tion if the educational institution pays for, or 

15 sponsors, the award and invites the judicial offi16 cer. 

17 ‘‘(F) Opportunities and benefits that are— 

18 ‘‘(i) available to the public or to a 

19 class consisting of all employees; 

20 ‘‘(ii) offered to members of a group or 

21 class for which membership in such group 

22 or class is unrelated to service as a judicial 

23 officer; 

24 ‘‘(iii) offered to members of an orga25 nization open to all judicial officers; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) in the form of loans from banks 

2 and other financial institutions on terms 

3 generally available to the public; or 

4 ‘‘(v) in the form of a reduction in 

5 membership fees or fees for participation 

6 in activities of an organization if such re7 duction is offered to all employees and the 

8 organization is a professional organization 

9 in which its membership is solely contin10 gent on professional qualifications of the 

11 prospective member. 

12 ‘‘(G) Reimbursement for reasonable ex13 penses for transportation, food, lodging, and en14 tertainment at a seminar or event relating to 

15 the law, the legal system, or the administration 

16 of justice if— 

17 ‘‘(i) the judicial officer was not invited 

18 to the seminar or event by a prohibited 

19 source; 

20 ‘‘(ii) the seminar or event is not orga21 nized, paid for, or sponsored by a prohib22 ited source; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) the total amount of reimburse24 ment for the seminar or event is— 

25 ‘‘(I) $2,000 or less; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) greater than $2,000 if such 

2 judicial officer received a written 

3 waiver from— 

4 ‘‘(aa) in the case of a justice 

5 of the Supreme Court of the 

6 United States, the Chief Justice 

7 of the United States; and 

8 ‘‘(bb) in the case of a judge, 

9 the chief judge of the circuit or 

10 district of the judge . 

11 ‘‘(H) Personal hospitality from an indi12 vidual, who is not a prohibited source, in an 

13 amount that does not exceed the dollar amount 

14 established under paragraph (1) of section 

15 2503(b)(as adjusted under paragraph (2) of 

16 such section) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

17 1986 (26 U.S.C. 2503(b)) with respect to such 

18 calendar year. 

19 ‘‘(3) GIFTS TO RELATIVES.—A gift to a relative 

20 of the judicial officer shall be considered a gift to 

21 the judicial officer if— 

22 ‘‘(A) it is given with the knowledge and ac23 quiescence of the judicial officer; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the judicial officer has reason to be2 lieve the gift was given because of the official 

3 position of the judicial officer. 

4 ‘‘(c) ENFORCEMENT.— 

5 ‘‘(1) REFERRAL.— 

6 ‘‘(A) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Judicial 

7 Conference of the United States, or any official 

8 designated by the Supreme Court of the United 

9 States or Congress to assist the justices of the 

10 Supreme Court in maintaining compliance with 

11 the Code of Conduct for Justices of the Su12 preme Court of the United States issued by the 

13 Court on November 13, 2023, or any successor 

14 rules or regulations governing ethical or con15 duct standards for justices, shall refer to the 

16 Attorney General the name of any individual 

17 who the Conference or the official has reason18 able cause to believe has accepted a gift prohib19 ited by this section or any other law or regula20 tion. 

21 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION OF REFERRAL.— 

22 Whenever the Judicial Conference of the United 

23 States refers a judicial officer to the Attorney 

24 General under this subsection, the Conference 


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1 shall notify the judicial council of the circuit in 

2 which such referred judicial officer serves. 

3 ‘‘(2) PENALTIES.— 

4 ‘‘(A) CIVIL PENALTIES.—The Attorney 

5 General may bring a civil action in any appro6 priate United States district court for a viola7 tion of this section. The court in which such ac8 tion is brought may assess against such indi9 vidual a civil penalty in any amount, not to ex10 ceed $50,000. 

11 ‘‘(B) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—Any person 

12 who knowingly and willfully violates this section 

13 shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not 

14 more than 1 year, or both. 

15 ‘‘(d) IMPLEMENTATION.—Within 180 days of the en16 actment of the High Court Gift Ban Act, the Supreme 

17 Court of the United States and the Judicial Conference 

18 of the United States shall each promulgate regulations to 

19 carry out this section and ensure compliance. 

20 ‘‘(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec21 tion shall be construed to make it permissible for a judicial 

22 officer to accept a gift or other item of value that the judi23 cial officer is prohibited from accepting under any other 

24 law, rule, or regulation.’’. 


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1 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

2 The table of sections for subchapter V of Chapter 73 of 

3 title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following: 

‘‘7354. Gifts to Federal judges.’’. 

Æ 


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