SCOTUS ethics bill & more

 Law360 has Senate Panel Narrowly Advances Supreme Court Ethics Bill

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines Thursday to advance to the full Senate legislation that would require the U.S. Supreme Court to establish a code of ethics and abide by new recusal requirements — a bill Republicans lambasted as an attempt to intimidate and harass the justices.

Law.com has Supreme Court Ethics Reform Bill Clears Senate Committee, but Fate Still Dim -- 
"You got the votes to get it out of here, but this thing’s dead as fried chicken on the Senate floor," warned Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana.

The Recorder has How Biography Shapes Judicial Philosophy: California Chief Justice Discusses Growing Up Near the Mexico Border -- California Supreme Court Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero discussed how her upbringing in the Imperial Valley shapes her approach on the bench at an event Wednesday.

Guerrero said her father, a “legit cowboy,” competed in rodeos. “I probably would’ve been a cowboy if I was a boy,” she said. Instead, the chief justice said she always wanted to be an attorney as far back as she could remember. She wanted to make a positive impact in people’s lives—a mindset she said she inherited from her mom.

And yesterday's DJ has Justice Hoffstadt's How much is that doggie in the window? -- An item’s price tag is clearly an out-of-court statement. But must it be true in order to be relevant proof of the item’s value? Thus far, the courts have come up with no fewer than four different answers.