Majority of Voters Think Supreme Court Justices Thomas and Alito Should Be Impeached, Support Gift Bans and Term Limits
By Rob Todaro
The U.S. Supreme Court is facing a legitimacy crisis. Previous Data for Progress polling has found that voters are concerned by the power of unelected judges and think that the Supreme Court should follow an enforceable code of conduct. When asked about different approaches to a code of conduct, 73% of likely voters said that the Supreme Court should be required to follow the same ethical code as other federal judges, while only 17% of likely voters supported allowing the Supreme Court to create its own code of ethics.
Since then, the Supreme Court created its own code of ethics, yet, as the Brennan Center for Justice points out, there “is no mechanism to enforce the code — no arbiter to enforce, apply, or even interpret these rules.” As a result, there have been no consequences for Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, who have failed to disclose gifts and refused to recuse themselves from cases involving potential conflicts of interest. On July 10, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced articles of impeachment against Thomas and Alito for this conduct.
A new Data for Progress survey examines voters’ perceptions of the Supreme Court, the articles of impeachment against Thomas and Alito, and potential court reform. Most notably, it finds that a majority of voters, including Independents, believe that Justices Thomas and Alito should be impeached.
For Thomas, voters were presented with the following information:
Since Clarence Thomas joined the Supreme Court, he has been treated to extensive financial gifts and luxury vacations by Harlan Crow, a billionaire who has made significant political donations exclusively to Republican candidates and causes. The trips were only disclosed by Thomas once the press revealed them.
Additionally, reports have shown that Justice Thomas’ wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, was involved in efforts to reverse the 2020 presidential election and that she attended Trump’s rally on January 6, 2021 before the U.S. Capitol attack. Despite this connection, Justice Thomas declined to recuse himself from cases involving January 6.
Some have argued that this warrants impeachment, while others have argued that this does not warrant impeachment.
Then when asked if Thomas should or should not be impeached from the Supreme Court, a majority of voters (57%), including 79% of Democrats, 57% of Independents, and 33% of Republicans, say that Thomas should be impeached.
Similarly, for Alito, voters were presented with the following information:
Recent reporting revealed that an upside-down American flag was flown in the front yard of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in the days after January 6, 2021, a symbol that Trump supporters used as part of the “Stop the Steal” movement. Despite this, Justice Alito declined to recuse himself from cases involving January 6.
Additionally, reports show that Justice Alito did not disclose accepting gifts from large right-wing donors who have had cases before the Supreme Court.
Some have argued that this warrants impeachment, while others have argued that this does not warrant impeachment.
Then when asked if Alito should or should not be impeached from the Supreme Court, a slightly smaller majority of voters (55%), including 79% of Democrats, 51% of Independents, and 33% of Republicans, say that Alito should be impeached.
When asked more broadly about the recusal process for when a Supreme Court justice has a potential personal conflict with a case, a majority of voters (59%) — including a majority of Democrats (72%) and Independents (55%) and a plurality of Republicans (48%) — think that “a neutral third party should decide whether to recuse the justice from the case,” while fewer than a third of voters think that the justice “should decide themselves whether to recuse themselves from the case.”
The survey also measured voters’ impressions of the court’s political bias. While only a plurality of voters say the current Supreme Court mostly decides cases on the justices' political preferences (48%), rather than on the Constitutional merits of the case (42%), a separate question finds that 61% of voters, including 86% of Democrats, 56% of Independents, 38% of Republicans, say they are somewhat or very concerned about the Supreme Court being biased toward conservative causes.
Lastly, voters were asked about two court reform proposals— term limits and gift bans.
The most popular of these proposals is the High Court Gift Ban Act, which would prohibit Supreme Court justices from receiving gifts valued at more than $50. More than three-quarters of voters (77%), including more than 70% of voters across party lines, support this legislation.
Similarly, 74% of voters, including majorities across party lines, support introducing term limits for Supreme Court justices so that they serve for a set period of time rather than for life.
This survey finds that a majority of voters, including a majority of Independents and one-third of Republicans, believe that Supreme Court Justices Thomas and Alito should be impeached for their conduct. Furthermore, voters are concerned about the Supreme Court being biased toward conservative causes and largely supportive of proposed reforms like gift bans and term limits.
Rob Todaro (@RobTodaro) is the Communications Director at Data for Progress.
Survey Methodology
From July 12 to 14, 2024, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1,246 U.S. likely voters nationally using web panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, race, geography, and 2020 recalledvote. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error associated with the sample size is ±3 percentage points. Results for subgroups of the sample are subject to increased margins of error. Partisanship reflected in tabulations is based on selfidentified party affiliation, not partisan registration. For more information please visit dataforprogress.org/our-methodology.