When I was a government employee we were instructed to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest. At that time we couldn’t even accept payment for a meal, much less vacations and monetary gifts of any kind.
So it without risk of contradiction to say that there is an order of magnitude difference between the situation Justice Thomas and other Supreme Court Justices and the long accepted norms noted above.
Medicynical Note: Harlan Crow, didn’t know Justice Thomas before Thomas became a justice. But since that time Thomas and his wife have received direct and indirect monetary payments and other benefits (free private flights and luxurious vacations) from Crow and I would presume others. In dollars Crow’s contributions are valued at over a million dollars.
And just what did Crow receive in return? Yes the citizen’s United decision which Thomas supported allows the Crows and other wealthy individuals to give unlimited dollars to influence political campaigns (a form of legalized bribery)….. but are monetary gifts to judges bribery? And just how much in contributions and other emollients is bribery? Just where is the line? And how should the recipient behave when his benefactor has business before the court?
In any case, Thomas became a reliable vote for whatever issue Crow considered important….. and also issues that his very politically active wife (who also received payments) supported. Should Thomas have recused himself from some these contentious cases?— he didn’t.
Just how corrupt is the current Supreme Court? Are judicial ethics a new disgraceful oxymoron?
Medicynic 