Sitting Out: Recusals Mount Among The U.S. Justices
From the National Law Journal
The growing pace of recusals by U.S. Supreme Court justices this term is fueling new concern about the court's ability to function at full strength.
Justice Samuel Alito Jr. has recused himself 52 times since the term began in October, a pace that could exceed his roughly 70 recusals last term. Most appear to have been triggered by his inheritance of stock in companies that are parties before the court — though many of the conflicts are not obvious from his most recent financial disclosure form. In most of the recusals, Alito bowed out of decisions that denied review of petitions before the court.
"Fifty-two recusals to this point in the term is an astounding number, regardless of how many of the cases were granted," said James Sample, a judicial ethics expert at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. "While justices holding individual stocks is not new, it may be that the extent and reach of those individualized holdings, in certain instances, is now great enough to risk diminishing the finite public resource" of the court as a nine-justice institution.
American University Washington College of Law professor Amanda Frost, who has written about Supreme Court ethics, agreed. "If Alito inherited the money, then it might have been hard for him to immediately sell it, so I think he should be given a reasonable amount of time to do so," she said. "But all the justices should make an effort to avoid such conflicts."
Alito is not the only justice stepping aside. Justice Elena Kagan has recused herself more than twice as often as Alito so far this term — 113 times — but almost all appear to be explained by her involvement in the cases as U.S. solicitor general before she joined the court in 2010. Last term, for the same reason, Kagan recused herself 220 times.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor has recused herself 31 times this term, almost all in cases that came from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, where she was a judge before joining the Supreme Court in 2009.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the National Law Journal
The growing pace of recusals by U.S. Supreme Court justices this term is fueling new concern about the court's ability to function at full strength.
Justice Samuel Alito Jr. has recused himself 52 times since the term began in October, a pace that could exceed his roughly 70 recusals last term. Most appear to have been triggered by his inheritance of stock in companies that are parties before the court — though many of the conflicts are not obvious from his most recent financial disclosure form. In most of the recusals, Alito bowed out of decisions that denied review of petitions before the court.
"Fifty-two recusals to this point in the term is an astounding number, regardless of how many of the cases were granted," said James Sample, a judicial ethics expert at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. "While justices holding individual stocks is not new, it may be that the extent and reach of those individualized holdings, in certain instances, is now great enough to risk diminishing the finite public resource" of the court as a nine-justice institution.
American University Washington College of Law professor Amanda Frost, who has written about Supreme Court ethics, agreed. "If Alito inherited the money, then it might have been hard for him to immediately sell it, so I think he should be given a reasonable amount of time to do so," she said. "But all the justices should make an effort to avoid such conflicts."
Alito is not the only justice stepping aside. Justice Elena Kagan has recused herself more than twice as often as Alito so far this term — 113 times — but almost all appear to be explained by her involvement in the cases as U.S. solicitor general before she joined the court in 2010. Last term, for the same reason, Kagan recused herself 220 times.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor has recused herself 31 times this term, almost all in cases that came from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, where she was a judge before joining the Supreme Court in 2009.
Read more in our daily News Update...