Press Releases

Washington, D.C. - Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) led the House of Representatives in passing H.R. 5720, the Courthouse Ethics and Transparency Act of 2021, legislation introduced by Representative Deborah Ross (D-NC) that addresses an alarming lack of transparency in the personal financial holdings of federal judges, and the conflicts—or appearance of conflicts—those holdings can create in the cases those judges are asked to decide. The bill passed the House by a bipartisan vote of 422-4. 

"Transparency and ethics are vital to the integrity of the judiciary and maintaining the public’s trust in our courts; however, recent reporting has shown that our federal judiciary has operated with much secrecy and minimal accountability for far too long," said Chairman Nadler. "I am very proud that the House came together to address this issue by passing the bipartisan Courthouse Ethics and Transparency Act, which makes incremental but necessary progress toward accountability by building on federal statutes that prohibit judges from deciding cases in which they have a personal financial stake in the outcome. The simple, long-overdue solutions included in this bill will bring necessary transparency to our nation's courts, and will help ensure judges remain impartial and cases are decided fairly. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to take up this important bill without delay."

The Courthouse Ethics and Transparency Act, introduced by Chairman Nadler, Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet Chairman Hank Johnson (D-GA), and Representatives Deborah Ross (D-NC), Darrell Issa (R-CA), and Chip Roy (R-TX), requires that federal judges’ financial disclosure reports be made publicly available online, and requires federal judges to submit periodic transaction reports of securities transactions in line with other federal officials under the STOCK Act. The legislation was passed by the Committee on November 17th by a unanimous voice vote.