Note the disrespect for the Court. The title of the hearing signals a foregone conclusion that the Justices are corrupted by money. This is a running theme of Mr. Whitehouse, whose preoccupations in the Senate have been undermining judicial independence and restricting the First Amendment rights of private citizens to influence their government. The Supreme Court already has a rule—37.6—that governs amicus filings. It requires that amicus briefs "indicate whether counsel for a party" involved in the litigation "authored" or "made a monetary contribution" to the preparation of the brief. It further requires disclosure of "every person other than the amicus, its members or counsel, who made such a monetary contribution." Mr. Whitehouse wants to go further and require amicus filers to disclose all of their donors. This would hit groups on the left and right that aren't required to disclose their donors but have scholars or legal experts who submit briefs. The Chamber of Commerce and NAACP would have to disclose all of their donors if they want to file briefs. This would deter some filers and thus less fully inform the Court, or it would open donors to these groups to political harassment—from the likes of Mr. Whitehouse and his political allies. All of this is almost certainly a violation of the First Amendment right to free association and speech. The Supreme Court ruled in NAACP v. Alabama (1958) that forcing donor disclosure can chill such rights. Mr. Whitehouse nods to this concern but claims that "granting sweeping anonymity protections to all member organizations, including business networks like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce whose corporate members face no serious threat of reprisal for the public expression of their views, simply does not follow." In other words, some groups have a right to free association but others don't. Mr. Whitehouse will be the judge. The Senator's quote comes from a Feb. 23 letter he co-wrote with Rep. Henry Johnson (D., Ga.) to the chairman of the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the U.S. Judicial Conference. The committee writes guidelines for judicial practice, and the letter says "we believe a legislative solution may be in order to ensure much-needed transparency around judicial lobbying." The Amicus Act is helpfully attached. This is a clear threat that, if the courts don't follow his orders, Congress will rewrite the judicial rules.