The Ethics Problem of Justice Clarence Thomas and the Supreme Court.

Justice Clarence Thomas' refusal to disclose his dealings with billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow is clarified by his jurisprudence. Thomas has a history of railing against disclosure laws, equating genuine illegal conduct with constitutionally protected public criticism. His hostility toward disclosure laws reached all the way to the federal statute that obligated him to report many of Crow's lavish gifts. The failure to report the real estate transaction seems to be classic quid pro quo corruption. Disclosure rules are the only means of transparency in a world of increasingly broken democratic systems.