The Supreme Court on Tuesday announced updates to its recusal policy one month after Justice Samuel Alito had to bow out of a case just days before oral argument because he owned stock in an oil and gas company that had been a party in the lower courts.
The new rules, which take effect March 16, require filers to list stock ticker symbols for companies involved in a case that will help a new software the court is deploying identify conflicts requiring recusal.
The new software will run an automated recusal check that will supplement existing procedures for the justices to check for conflicts, the court said.
The adoption of the recusal software is not a direct response to Alito’s recent recusal. The justices directed court officials to consider adopting something like when the court issued an updated code of conduct in November 2023.
