U.S. Supreme Court’s new code of conduct is too little, too late

Under Chief Justice John Roberts, the U.S. Supreme Court last week issued a Code of Conduct for the nation’s highest court. (Matt Rourke/AP)

The U.S. Supreme Court, rocked by accusations of improper gift-taking and other ethics missteps, believes it has now found a way to restore public trust in the once-august panel.

The solution? The justices last week announced it has adopted a new code of conduct that they themselves will enforce — but declined to outline how ethics accusations would be investigated or what punishments for infractions would be meted out.