An earlier generation of Supreme Court justices seemed to possess the capacity for shame. In 1969, Justice Abe Fortas resigned his seat for accepting a $20,000 consulting fee (which he returned) from a foundation led by a man who was convicted of securities fraud. Whatever Justice Fortas believed about his own honor and morality, he understood that the Supreme Court is an inherently fragile institution, and that its nine justices cannot afford the slightest whiff of bias or corruption. They are saying, in effect, that they don’t care if any of this bothers you. To go by recent polls showing that this court’s public approval has approached record lows, it bothers many millions of Americans.

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Persons: Abe Fortas, Justice Fortas, “, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas Locations: Washington