By Gabe Roth

Earlier today, a cert. petition filed by former W.D.N.C. assistant federal defender Caryn Strickland was placed on the justices’ June 25 conference schedule.

Strickland, who was harassed and retaliated against during her 2017-19 stint as an AFD, has been pursuing her lawsuit for more than six years. Though she won some preliminary victories during the litigation, the judges overseeing her case ultimately said her constitutional rights were not violated during the employment dispute resolution process that followed her harassment complaint.

On the merits, I believe the justices should take the case.

The petition raises novel questions about the extent to which judiciary employees should be afforded certain protections under existing employment law, and the justices should set the rules here.

One question the cert. petition raises indirectly that’s worth mentioning is that of recusal.

Chief Justice Roberts is name-checked in Strickland’s petition twice: first, in her description of the Workplace Conduct Working Group that Roberts established in 2017 following the Alex Kozinski scandal; and second, in the notice about assigning a new panel to hear her appeal since the entire Fourth Circuit recused (something CJOTUS must do under federal law).

Ahead of the June 25 conference, Chief Justice Roberts’ chambers will perform a conflict check. As of earlier this year, we know all the justices are using conflict-check software to help them understand their ethical obligations vis-a-vis their prior work, their families’ investments and the like.

Though the software will get a hit on “Roberts,” I don’t see the information described above as being enough to warrant recusal.

The WCWG was not directly involved in Strickland’s case, and Roberts doesn’t have an additional recusal responsibility simply because an entire circuit recused during the course of litigation.

So not only do I hope that four justices grant cert. later this month, I hope it’s four (or more) out of nine and not four (or more) out of eight.