# Is the position of SCOTUS Justice an "Office of Profit or Trust"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 6, 2019, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-position-of-scotus-justice-an-office-of-profit-or-trust/839817 "2019-09-06T21:20:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-position-of-scotus-justice-an-office-of-profit-or-trust/839817/1 "2019-09-06T21:20:48Z")
[This article on SCOTUS Justice Neil Gorsuch](https://apnews.com/7c9f287b66fa4dec9d9b22bea0767edb)’s new book mentions some of his recent activities during the court’s break: > [@](#): > > Seated in his corner office a little over a month before the Oct. 7 start of the new Supreme Court term, Gorsuch appeared relaxed and upbeat. He showed off a plaque he brought back from his summer teaching sojourn in Padua, Italy, signed by “the boys” of the local police station. He’ll travel to California and Texas to speak about his book at the Richard Nixon library and George W. Bush presidential center before the term begins, in addition to speaking at the National Archives in Washington. This got me thinking about the plaque he brought home from Italy, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was inappropriate. But I don’t know if SCOTUS Justice is considered an Office of government, specifically, an "Office of Profit or Trust " and I don’t know where to go to find that information, so I thought I’d see if someone here, perhaps one of our law-talking folks, knew the answer. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-position-of-scotus-justice-an-office-of-profit-or-trust/839817/2 "2019-09-06T21:47:48Z")
Yes, Supreme Court Justice is an office of both trust and profit. The first citation I googled is this one but at least two other people agree with me: [https://conlaw.jotwell.com/constitutional-officers-a-very-close-reading/](https://conlaw.jotwell.com/constitutional-officers-a-very-close-reading/) Another question is, however, is a plaque from a local police station in Padua an “emolument”? Would it matter whether he repaid the force for the cost of the plaque? I sincerely don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-position-of-scotus-justice-an-office-of-profit-or-trust/839817/3 "2019-09-06T21:48:37Z")
Yes, a SCOTUS justice holds an office of profit or trust. Justices are limited on what they may accept as gifts, as are all federal employees. But there are numerous exceptions. A plaque is a [specifically noted exception](https://ask.fedweek.com/federal-government-policies/rules-gifts/) to the general limitation on federal employees receiving gifts. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-position-of-scotus-justice-an-office-of-profit-or-trust/839817/4 "2019-09-07T00:52:19Z")
Thank you both for your replies. **Iggy** , I do note that your cite says > [@](#): > > A “gift” under these policies **generally** does not include items such as publicly available discounts and prizes, commercial loans, food not part of a meal such as coffee and donuts, and items of little value such as plaques and greeting cards. (bolding mine) Prolly not a transgression in this instance, but a plaque isn’t automatically exempt, if I’m reading that correctly. Again: thank you both. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-position-of-scotus-justice-an-office-of-profit-or-trust/839817/5 "2019-09-07T01:15:06Z")
> **[5 U.S. Code § 7342 - Receipt and disposition of foreign gifts and decorations](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/7342)** The plaque is clearly a gift of “minimal value” per this section of law. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-position-of-scotus-justice-an-office-of-profit-or-trust/839817/6 "2019-09-07T14:05:14Z")
If they’d studded it with diamonds or made it from a gold brick, I imagine that’s why the “generally” is in there. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2019, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-position-of-scotus-justice-an-office-of-profit-or-trust/839817/7 "2019-09-08T15:31:47Z")
And ANY gift or emolument is OK if approved by Congress.