The False Abe Fortas Analogy

Abe Fortas has been in the news of late—a feat for someone who died in 1982. Amid a campaign by Democrats and partisan journalists to tar conservative Supreme Court justices for “ethics” violations, outlets including the New York Times, the Washington Post and NPR have cited the example of Fortas’s 1969 resignation, implying that the justices they disfavor might want to follow it.

But there’s no parallel. Fortas embodied cronyism and corruption, with direct conflicts of interest involving parties with business before the high court and legal advice to a businessman who was investigated, indicted and convicted of federal felonies. He also acted as a regular adviser to a president whose administration, like every administration, was a repeat Supreme Court litigant. None of the currently serving justices have been accused of anything remotely comparable.