The Supreme Court on Monday announced it has adopted a new code of conduct, a move that comes after a series of allegations of ethics lapses.

That is, the General Assembly allots peanuts to policing public ethics. Does it show? Thomas Suddes is a former legislative reporter with The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and writes from Ohio University.

How are ethics violations enforced? Alleged ethics violations within the Supreme Court are typically enforced through a combination of internal accountability mechanisms and external scrutiny.

The Supreme Court’s new ethics code lacks any teeth and is full of language too fuzzy to hold justices accountable. And its tone is resentful.