With the Supreme Court under fire, a top federal judge proposes more sunlight

Judge Thapar said he did not meet with Judge Thomas for the book, which is based on the judges’ opinions and other writings on the cases. Only recently did he send a copy to the judiciary. While promoting the book, he finds himself addressing both the current court furore and Judge Thomas’ record – an unusual position for a federal judge, as they usually evade the media.

However, he draws the line when expressing his views on whether the Supreme Court should be subject by Congress to the same ethical rules and financial reporting requirements that apply to him and other federal jurists under the Supreme Court.

“The chief has spoken and I can’t tell my bosses what to do, so whatever my opinion, I’ll keep it to myself,” he said. Judge Thapar noted that he believed judges should follow the letter of the law in providing the required information.

“What we don’t want to do is reveal too much,” he said. “So if the rule doesn’t say it, or we ask and they say ‘no,’ then you don’t have to.” Otherwise, he said, it results in a “game of guessing” about what a judge may or may not have made public.

He said the idea that judges are somehow beholden to friends or others who might provide gifts or shelter is seriously misguided.

“I took an oath, I have to keep that oath,” he said, saying his opinion on a case is based on the law “no matter what my friends think, no matter what my parents think, no matter what my wife or children think. And I think all the judges think very strongly about it.”

As for what happens between Congress and the courts, Judge Thapar said he couldn’t predict how that would turn out given the judiciary’s role as a separate branch of government and the constitutional status of the Supreme Court.

However, he is sure of one thing.

“Hopefully,” he said, “that’s something I never have to decide on.”