I am writing to you to ask that existing rules, about the federal judiciary disclosing their financial entanglements and recusing themselves from cases for which they have a conflict, actually be enforced. CNN reported April 21, 2023 (“Details about multimillion-dollar stock holding concealed in abortion pill judge’s financial disclosures”) that Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk is redacting the name of a company whose stock comprises the majority of his wealth. I call on you to investigate this redaction to determine if he is ruling on cases that affect his own personal wealth. But even more concerning is a statement buried in this article, “In 2021, for example, the Wall Street Journal found that 131 federal judges heard cases involving firms in which they or their family members held stock, a violation of the law.” (with a link to “131 Federal Judges Broke the Law by Hearing Cases Where They Had a Financial Interest” dated September 28, 2021.) This type of corruption is not acceptable, and every one of those 131 judges should be investigated and if true, censured, fined or fired depending on the severity of their individual cases. Please do your job and ensure that our federal judiciary is deciding the law based on legal reasoning and the good of the nation, not the good of their pocketbooks. Americans deserve a trustworthy federal judiciary. Thank you.
