TheCorporateCounsel.net

In what is no doubt the biggest news of the week for our judicial branch (kidding), the “Courthouse Ethics & Transparency Act” has been presented to the President for signature. Congress approved the bill last week. Here’s a summary:

The Courthouse Ethics and Transparency Act would require that federal judges’ financial disclosure reports be made publicly available online and require federal judges to submit periodic transaction reports of securities transactions in line with other federal officials under the STOCK Act. The bill, which passed the Senate unanimously in February, would amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to:

• Require the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to create a searchable online database of judicial financial disclosure forms and post those forms within 90 days of being filed, and

• Subject federal judges to the STOCK Act’s requirement of filing periodic transaction reports within 45 days of securities transactions over $1,000.

Importantly, the bill also preserves the existing ability of judges to request redactions of personal information on financial disclosure reports due to a security concern.

As we’ve noted in this blog before, the STOCK Act hasn’t exactly been known for its sweeping effectiveness. That did not deter the sponsors of the bill, who pointed to its importance in maintaining the independence of the judiciary. The WSJ reported last year that 131 judges had failed to recuse themselves from lawsuits involving companies in which they or their families held shares.

– Liz Dunshee