Explaining the Unexplained Recusals in Supreme Court Orders

Since the justices of the Supreme Court do not explain their reasons for recusing themselves from certain cases, Fix the Court will try to put the pieces together.

This is the second post in a series, called “Took No Part” (TNP) since the phrase used in Supreme Court orders noting a recusal is “Justice [X] took no part in the consideration or decision of this petition.” 14. The first installment is here.
TNPs from SCOTUS’s Jan. 20 orders

14-7102 KEARNEY, RICHARD V. GRAHAM, SUPT., AUBURN
Result: Certiorari denied
Recused justice: Sotomayor
Presumed reason: Richard Kearney, a landlord in Queens, New York, was convicted of first-degree manslaughter in federal court in 2003 for shooting one of his tenants. Three years later, the conviction was appealed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, where Justice Sotomayor was serving as a judge at the time.

14-7596 FLOOD, KEVIN P. V. UNITED STATES
Result: Certiorari denied
Recused justice: Kagan
Presumed reason: Unclear. Kevin Flood, of western Pennsylvania, was convicted of a number of drug- and weapons-related charges in 2007. After the fact, he filed a motion claiming ineffective counsel, which was denied, as Flood claimed his attorney failed to try to suppress an audiotape used against Flood at trial. It’s unclear at what point Justice Kagan would have come across this case.

14-7597 GAREY, EDDIE M. V. UNITED STATES
Result: Certiorari denied
Recused justice: Kagan
Presumed reason: Unclear. Eddie Garey was indicted in 2003 on 27 felony counts for threatening to bomb various buildings in Macon, Ga., and then represented himself at trial. The Justice Department participated in the case given the charges, which included five counts of threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction, but it’s unclear where and when Justice Kagan, as solicitor general beginning in March 2009, may have come into the picture.

14-7601 ROMAN, MANUEL V. UNITED STATES
Result: Certiorari denied
Recused justice: Sotomayor
Presumed reason: Manuel Roman was convicted in federal court to life in prison, plus 300 months, for “racketeering, murder, trafficking in heroin and cocaine and the possession and use of firearms,” The Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction in 2008 at a time when Justice Sotomayor was serving as a judge there.