I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 862 
To apply to the justices of the Supreme Court the Code of Conduct for 
United States Judges, to establish certain procedures with respect to 
the recusal of justices, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 1, 2011 
Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut (for himself and Mr. WEINER) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To apply to the justices of the Supreme Court the Code 
of Conduct for United States Judges, to establish certain 
procedures with respect to the recusal of justices, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supreme Court Trans-
parency and Disclosure Act of 2011’’. 
SEC. 2. CODE OF CONDUCT. 
(a) APPLICABILITY.—The Code of Conduct for 
United States Judges adopted by the Judicial Conference 
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of the United States shall apply to the justices of the 
United States Supreme Court to the same extent as such 
Code applies to circuit and district judges. 
(b) ENFORCEMENT.—The Judicial Conference shall 
establish procedures, modeled after the procedures set 
forth in chapter 16 of title 28, United States Code, under 
which— 
(1) complaints alleging that a justice of the Su-
preme Court has violated the Code of Conduct re-
ferred to in subsection (a) may be filed with or iden-
tified by the Conference; 
(2) such complaints are reviewed and inves-
tigated by the Conference; and 
(3) further action, where appropriate, is taken 
by the Conference, with respect to such complaints. 
(c) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS; EFFECTIVE DATE.— 
(1) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—The Judicial 
Conference shall, not later than the 180th day after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, submit to 
Congress the procedures established under sub-
section (b). 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Such procedures shall 
take effect upon the expiration of the 270-day period 
beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 
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SEC. 3. RECUSAL OF JUSTICES. 
(a) DISCLOSURES BY JUSTICES.— 
(1) SELF DISQUALIFICATION.—In any case in 
which a justice of the Supreme Court disqualifies 
himself or herself in a proceeding under section 455 
of title 28, United States Code, the justice shall dis-
close in the public record of the proceeding the rea-
sons for the disqualification. 
(2) DENIAL OF DISQUALIFICATION MOTION.—If 
a justice of the Supreme Court denies a motion 
brought by a party to a proceeding before the Court 
that the justice should be disqualified in the pro-
ceeding under section 455 of such title, the justice 
shall disclose in the public record of the proceeding 
the reasons for the denial of the motion. 
(b) PROCESS
FOR DETERMINING RECUSAL.—The 
Judicial Conference of the United States shall establish 
a process under which, if a disqualification motion has 
been denied as described in subsection (a)(2) and the 
party making the motion seeks further review of the mo-
tion, other justices or judges of a court of the United 
States (as defined in section 451 of title 28, United States 
Code), among whom retired justices and senior judges eli-
gible for assignment under section 294 of title 28, United 
States Code, may be included, shall decide whether the 
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justice with respect to whom the motion is made should 
be so disqualified. 
(c) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS; EFFECTIVE DATE.— 
(1) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—The Judicial 
Conference shall, not later than the 180th day after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, submit to 
Congress the process established under subsection 
(b). 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Such process shall take 
effect upon the expiration of the 270-day period be-
ginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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