'Seems like a good idea': Supreme Court justice backs enforcing ethics code on her court

Justice Elena Kagan on Monday pushed back against critics opposing the enforcement of ethics rules for Supreme Court Justices.

In an appearance at the New York University School of Law, Kagan talked about the need for a lower court of judges to handle accusations of ethical breaches made against Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, NBC News reported Monday.

"It seems like a good idea in terms of ensuring that we comply with our own code of conduct going forward in the future. It seems like a good idea in terms of ensuring that people have confidence that we're doing exactly that," she said.

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Some critics have complained that a panel of judges would give the justices a break while others claim they'd waste their time on conspiracy theories.

She doesn't think that giving deference would be a problem for lower-court judges, explaining they "are not so afraid of us."

Kagan said the judges could easily "sort the wheat from the chaff," meaning get rid of the useless conspiracies and address the real issues.

"I mean, there's like lots of ability now to make unfounded charges about what justices do and don't do. So I don't really see how it would increase that," she added.

"And I think that there are plenty of judges around this country who could do a task like that in a very fair-minded and serious way," she added.

While promoting her new book, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has also been talking about her openness to an ethics code that is actually enforced.