Samuel Alito in Bloomberg.com


On Principles & Values: Conflict-of-interest recusals only apply to“initial service”

Senate Democrats have asked why Alito ruled in cases involving Vanguard Group, where he holds mutual funds, and Smith Barney, his brokerage firm, though he pledged in 1990 to disqualify himself from matters involving those companies. Sen. Arlen Specter (R, PA) asked Alito to publicly respond to the questions.

“I have not ruled on a case for which I had a legal or ethical obligation to recuse myself during my 15 years on the federal bench,” Alito wrote to Specter. Alito said his 1990 judicial confirmation promise was intended to avoid conflicts during his “initial service” on the bench.

Later, he reassessed his position because he “realized that I had been unduly restrictive on my 1990 questionnaire because there was not a legal or ethical obligation to recuse myself from every case involving the companies I listed.”

Alito didn’t mention another explanation that he has previously given: that a “glitch” in a computer program designed to alert judges to conflicts failed to alert him.

Source: Bloomberg News, “Vanguard Case” Nov 11, 2005

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Page last updated: Dec 15, 2021