Federal judges’ – including Supreme Court justices’ – annual disclosure reports were recently given to the press and public via thumb drives.

This was the first time ever the reports were released digitally and the first time in ages they were released in the first third of the month. (Progress!)

It goes to show that the judiciary will modernize when pressure is put on them, whether from an outside group or from the halls of Congress.

Around the same time, Fix the Court fans began petitioning their representatives to include the justices in the STOCK Act. As of this morning, 2,901 letters from 49 states have been submitted to Congress to that end.

The STOCK Act, as you may know, requires officials to place their disclosures online and to report stock transactions within 45 days. The current policy at SCOTUS allows justices to hide their transactions – and they own millions in companies with open cases – for as much as a year and a half and offers no consequences for missing statutory stock conflicts.

That’s a major hole in third-branch oversight.

The courts have deemed federal judges’ annual disclosure requirements constitutional; adding these judges’ to an existing and related law, such as the STOCK Act, would then be, as well.

Let’s make it happen!