Pulitzer Prize for Public Service designed by Daniel Chester French in 1917
We told you this was going to happen. The good folks at Pro Publica spent the better part of 2023 speaking truth to power and digging into the questionable habit of largely right-wing members of the Supreme Court accepting lavish gifts and failing to do the required disclosures. And now they’re getting a spiffy award for their efforts!
The team at Pro Publica — Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott, Brett Murphy, Alex Mierjeski, and Kirsten Berg — are the 2024 recipients of the Pulitzer Prize in the category of public service. Congrats! Their work included uncovering evidence that Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas took hundreds of thousands of dollars in undisclosed gifts. Thomas had wealthy buddies cover private school tuition for his family on his behalf, provide his mother rent-free housing, and buy him an RV. And part of the reason the gifts started pouring in to the justice was because he made conservatives nervous he was going to retire if he *didn’t* start living the high life.
From the Pultizer announcement:
Groundbreaking and ambitious reporting that pierced the thick wall of secrecy surrounding the Supreme Court to reveal how a small group of politically influential billionaires wooed justices with lavish gifts and travel, pushing the Court to adopt its first code of conduct.
Well, easy there warhorse.
Sure, there’s been some effort to make it look like something is being done about the rot on the Court. But, ultimately, it’s been a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing. Frankly, I feel confident the Pro Publica reporters know better than most that the changes enacted thus far aren’t enough to solve the problem.
Earlier: Paragon Of Virtue Clarence Thomas Has Been Given Half Million In Value Off The Record And It Totally Hasn’t Impacted His Judging. Not One Bit. Nope.
Clarence Thomas Skated On Ethics Complaints In 2012… Meaning He Definitely Already Knew The Rules
Appearance Of Bribery: Political Megadonor Wants Us To Believe He Bought And Improved Justice’s Mom’s House Off The Record Because Of History Or Something
That Perfectly Innocent Way One Funnels Money To The Spouse Of A Supreme Court Justice While Trying To Avoid A Paper Trail
Clarence Thomas RV Financed By Rich Health Care Executive In Least Shocking Development Ever
It’s Going To Be A Lot Harder For Clarence Thomas To Justify The Most Recent Ethics Scandal
Federalist Society Tells Founder He Can’t Call Himself ‘Founder’ In Purity Purge
Clarence Thomas Thinks He Was Practically Forced To Take All That Under The Table MoneyClarence Thomas Can Take Bribes Because He Grew Up Poor, Declares Professor
John Oliver Tries To Tempt Clarence Thomas Into Retirement Offering Millions, Sweet Ride
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.
