IV 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 465 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the justices of 
the United States Supreme Court should make themselves subject to 
the existing and operative ethics guidelines set out in the Code of Con-
duct for United States Judges, or should promulgate their own code 
of conduct. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 6, 2015 
Ms. NORTON submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the justices of the United States Supreme Court should 
make themselves subject to the existing and operative 
ethics guidelines set out in the Code of Conduct for 
United States Judges, or should promulgate their own 
code of conduct. 
Whereas section 455 of title 28, United States Code, estab-
lishes the circumstances under which any justice, judge, 
or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify 
himself or herself from a case; 
Whereas under chapter 16 of title 28, United States Code 
(relating to complaints against judges and judicial dis-
cipline), the judicial circuits may prescribe rules and pro-
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•HRES 465 IH 
cedures for the conduct of proceedings under that chap-
ter, including regarding complaint, investigative, and re-
view procedures for certain decisions of judges and mag-
istrate judges of the United States not to recuse them-
selves from cases; 
Whereas litigants can seek legal recourse through the United 
States courts to enforce section 455 of title 28, United 
States Code, and challenge the disposition of the under-
lying case, and complainants have administrative proce-
dures under chapter 16 of title 28, United States Code, 
against a judge or magistrate judge of the United States, 
but there are no comparable enforcement mechanisms 
against the justices of the United States; 
Whereas the Judicial Conference of the United States adopt-
ed a Code of Conduct for United States Judges, which 
uses language identical to the relevant portion of section 
455 of title 28, United States Code, that a judge or mag-
istrate judge of the United States must abide by when 
deciding whether to recuse himself or herself from a case, 
but the Code does not apply to a justice of the United 
States Supreme Court; 
Whereas justices of the United States Supreme Court are not 
bound by any written code of conduct; 
Whereas justices of the United States Supreme Court each 
have unreviewable authority to determine whether there 
is an appearance of bias, conflict of interest, or other eth-
ical justification sufficient for withdrawal from hearing, 
partaking in deliberations in, or joining in the resolution 
of, a case or controversy; 
Whereas the Federal Judicial Center has concluded that ‘‘bal-
ancing the duty to decide’’ with ‘‘the duty to disqualify’’ 
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•HRES 465 IH 
precludes judges from using recusal as an excuse to shirk 
their duties by avoiding difficult or unpleasant cases; 
Whereas the United States Constitution vests judicial power 
in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the 
Congress may from time to time ordain and establish; 
Whereas the separation of powers of the coordinate branches 
of government, as well as the independence of the judici-
ary, or the appearance of independence, may be com-
promised by extensive legislative or executive interference 
into that branch’s functions; 
Whereas James Madison argued in Federalist Paper Number 
10 that ‘‘[n]o man is allowed to be a judge in his own 
cause, because his interest would certainly bias his judg-
ment, and, not improbably, corrupt his integrity’’; and 
Whereas the United States Supreme Court has acknowledged 
in Republican Party of Minnesota v. White, and reiter-
ated in Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., that ‘‘[t]he 
citizen’s respect for judgments depends . . . upon the 
issuing court’s absolute probity’’ and that ‘‘[j]udicial in-
tegrity is, in consequence, a state interest of the highest 
order’’: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that the justices of the United States Su-
preme Court should make themselves subject to the exist-
ing and operative ethics guidelines set out in the Code of 
Conduct for United States Judges, or should promulgate 
their own ethical code. 
Æ 
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