Attack ads will target SCOTUS as 'least accountable' branch of government
Viewers of Fox and MSNBC in the Washington, D.C., area will be able to see a new ad that calls for greater Supreme Court transparency.
The ad campaign unveiled today by a group called Fix the Court criticizes the U.S. Supreme Court as the “most powerful and least accountable branch of government, USA Today, Legal Times, and Broadcasting & Cable report. A press release is here.
“They’ve told us where we can pray, picked our president, allowed billionaires to buy elections, and made choices of life and death,” the ad voiceover says. “Nine judges appointed for life to a court that makes its own rules and has disdain for openness and transparency. The Supreme Court—the most powerful, least accountable branch of government.” The ad urges viewers to demand change at a new website, FixTheCourt.com.
The ad campaign has five goals: for the court to report reasons for recusals, to post detailed financial disclosures online, to adhere to the code of ethics governing federal judges, to disclose public appearances and generally allow media coverage, and to broadcast live oral arguments and opinion announcements.
The six-figure ad campaign will also include ads at D.C. metro stations and on high-traffic websites. The New Venture Fund bankrolled the campaign, according to USA Today.
The executive director of Fix the Court is Gabe Roth, who was previously manager of the Coalition for Court Transparency.
