The Supreme Court is adding some code to police its own conflicts of interest. The court said Tuesday that it is bringing in new in-house software that will automatically scan cases for potential conflicts involving the nine justices, comparing the parties and lawyers in each dispute with information supplied by the justices' chambers, Reuters reports. The "automated recusal checks" won't replace the current system—each justice still decides individually whether to sit out a case—but will serve as another layer of review, per a rep.
As part of the shift, the court is tightening what lawyers must disclose. Filings will soon need more detailed party lists, along with any relevant stock ticker symbols, making it easier to flag cases that might intersect with a justice's financial holdings. The new requirements kick in March 16 and are meant to plug gaps critics say allowed potential conflicts to go unnoticed. The move follows the adoption of the court's first formal ethics code in 2023, which instructs justices to step aside from cases when their impartiality could "reasonably be questioned" but leaves enforcement to the justices themselves.
Gabe Roth of watchdog group Fix the Court called the tech upgrade "somewhat positive" and said using conflict-check software is already standard in lower courts. According to financial disclosures, the only justices who hold individual stocks are Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, who recused himself from an environmental case last month because of his holdings in an oil and gas company connected to the dispute, the Washington Post reports.
"If the justices wanted to institute a more effective change related to their ethics and their investments, they'd agree as a Court not to hold any stocks during their tenures," Roth said in a statement. "An investor-justice could own a blended fund, mutual fund, or ETF and reap the same benefits with a far reduced conflict exposure. In fact, seven of the nine justices have made this very calculation."
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