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 is trying to put the pieces together for you in a series we’re calling “Took No Part,” 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.”

This is the third post in a series; the first two installments are here and here.

TNPs from SCOTUS’s Jan. 26 orders

13-1286 GEVO, INC. V. BUTAMAX ADVANCED BIOFUELS
Result: Cert granted
Recused justice: Alito
Presumed reason: Butamax, a joint venture of BP PLC and DuPont Co., is involved in a patent dispute with Gevo over biofuel manufacturing. According to his 2013 financial disclosure report, Justice Alito up to $50,000 in DuPont stock, and owning shares in a litigant company is enough to trigger a recusal. If Butamax wins the case, that could boost its bottom line – and its share price.

14-587 TARGET CORP. V. THOMPSON, STACY
Result: Cert denied
Recused justice: Alito
Presumed reason: Unclear. Hourly employees about to go on meal break need to find coworkers to cover their duties before they can leave, but when those coworkers are nowhere to be found, and the employees in question keep working instead of going on break, they should get paid for that time – or at least that what this class action lawsuit from California alleges. While Justice Alito’s sister Rosemary often represents management in disputes with labor, there is no record of her or her firm being retained by Target in this case, and from 2009-2013, Justice Alito owned no Target stock.

14-7612 JOHNSON, LAWRENCE V. UNITED STATES
Result: Cert denied
Recused justice: Kagan
Presumed reason: Johnson is a small-time heroin dealer from Waterloo, Iowa, who contends his conspiracy conviction – though not his drug conviction – should be thrown out. With the U.S. as the respondent, it’s likely that Justice Kagan worked on this case in some regard while solicitor general, a position she held before ascending to the bench in 2010.