Not Even the Supreme Court is Above the Fray
The latest incarnation of the Supreme Court’s super-authority is the disregard some Justices hold for conflicts of interest. A conflict of interest, for the uninitiated, occurs when a lawyer or judge has a personal interest that is contrary to discharging their duty. For lawyers, conflicts arise when they to represent opposing clients. For judges, a conflict arises when they have a personal stake in the matter in which they are presiding.
Traditionally, the Justices divest themselves of all individually held stock to avoid conflicts. Three justices, Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Alito and Breyer, continue to buck this trend. Justice Alito holds stock in over 30 companies. Justice Roberts, who just divested himself of between $250,000 and $500,000 worth of Microsoft stock, still owns between $250,000 and $500,000 in Time Warner, Inc. Justice Breyer, a liberal scion, owns between $1M and $5M in Pearson Media, a company started by his wife’s family.
The Effect
The problem with owning individual stocks is that Justices must, by federal law, recuse themselves if one of these parties comes before the Court. Luckily, major companies like Microsoft and Time Warner are rarely found in the courtroom, right? Oh wait, that isn’t right. Major corporations are constantly involved in litigation and often are before the Supreme Court on multiple occasions, sometimes even within the same decade. Justice Alito, in a case involving Johnson Controls, Inc., recused himself because he owned stock in the company.
An Aura of Impropriety
Unfortunately, it gets worse. What happens when a Justice does not believe that there is a conflict? As was the case with Chief Justice Roberts involving Texas Instruments, he failed to recuse himself despite holding Texas Instruments stock. Or, another case involving Justice Breyer in which he sat for a case, despite the fact that his wife owning $33,000 worth of shares in one of the parties. Granted, the moment his clerks uncovered the conflict his wife promptly sold her shares, but this does nothing to dispel the aura of impropriety.
The Supreme Court should be the one institution that is untouched by politics, by opinion polls and by pundits. It is nine Justices, in a room, guided only by their knowledge, clerks and philosophies. Sloppy conflict checks or hastily organized stock sales only illustrate to the public that even the high court is not above the fray.
Image via: Nation of Change
