{"id":171,"date":"2026-06-10T13:43:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T13:43:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=171"},"modified":"2026-06-10T13:43:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T13:43:41","slug":"when-must-justices-recuse-themselves-over-family-members-acts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=171","title":{"rendered":"When must justices recuse themselves over family members\u2019 acts?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Late last month, the news site NOTUS reignited the perennial debate about Supreme Court recusals when it reported that Justice Samuel Alito\u2019s son, Philip Alito, \u201cquietly landed a political appointee job as a lawyer in the Treasury Department early last year.\u201d The article claimed that the younger Alito\u2019s job raised questions about his father\u2019s ability to fairly weigh cases tied to the Treasury Department and prompted a flurry of social\u00a0media\u00a0posts about the court\u2019s ethics rules.<\/p>\n

Read more The latest on tariff refunds<\/a><\/p>\n

Alito also faced scrutiny two years ago, when The New York Times reported that an upside-down American flag \u2013 a symbol sometimes used to show support for the protesters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 \u2013 had flown outside his home in Alexandria, Virginia, after the 2020 election. Although Alito said his wife, Martha-Ann, was responsible for the flag, Democratic lawmakers and ethics experts called on the justice to recuse himself from cases addressing the events of Jan. 6 and the outcome of the 2020 election. He did not, but, according to a book released this spring, Alito did give up authorship of the court\u2019s opinion in one such case, in which the court held that Jan. 6 defendants were being improperly charged with obstruction of an official proceeding.<\/p>\n

This is not the first time a justice has navigated perceived or real ethical issues related to their loved ones\u2019 actions. As Gabe Roth, the founder and executive director of Fix the Court, noted in a Bloomberg column about the backlash sparked by NOTUS\u2019 story, Chief Justice John Roberts has faced calls to \u201cdisqualify himself from cases argued by attorneys from the firms where [his] wife Jane, a legal recruiter, has made placements.\u201d And Justice Clarence Thomas, like Alito, has been confronted with recusal\u00a0demands over his wife\u2019s vocal support for conservative organizations and causes.<\/p>\n

A surprise retirement<\/strong><\/p>\n

Perhaps the most famous example of a justice who faced an ethical challenge created by a family member is Justice Tom C. Clark, who was on the court from 1949 until 1967. Clark, who spent the 12 years before he became a justice working for the Justice Department, was appointed by President Harry S. Truman after serving as Truman\u2019s attorney general.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Justice Clark was working at One First Street, his son, Ramsey Clark, was following his father\u2019s footsteps to the halls of power. After receiving a law degree in 1950, the younger Clark joined his father\u2019s old law firm in Dallas. In 1961, he moved to the Justice Department as assistant attorney general of the Lands Division, serving in that role until 1965, when he became deputy attorney general.<\/p>\n

In the fall of 1966, Ramsey Clark\u2019s boss at the Justice Department, U.S. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, left for the State Department, and Clark was picked to be acting AG. About five months later, in March 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced he would appoint Clark to stay in the role, and Justice Clark surprised the country with an announcement of his own: He would be retiring from the court in order \u201cto avoid any hint of impropriety,\u201d as Time magazine put it.<\/p>\n

In a 1969 interview for the Lyndon Johnson Presidential Library, the retired justice explained his decision to leave the court, noting that, even before Ramsey Clark joined the Justice Department, he was aware of judges who heard cases involving their sons and had come to believe such a situation \u201cmade a bad impression.\u201d At the Supreme Court, Clark explained, more than half of the cases involve the Justice Department in some way, so it would have been nearly impossible to avoid weighing in on disputes that Ramsey Clark had worked on as attorney general. Clark added that \u201cthe appearance of justice, I think, is more important than justice itself\u201d and that \u201cjudges owe a higher degree of not only duty but of public appearance than the average person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recusal rules<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clark\u2019s decision to retire was his own, and legal experts disagreed at the time about whether it was required. \u201cSome observers had thought that Justice Clark could remain on the bench, because the Attorney General rarely signs documents that go before the Court,\u201d The New York Times reported in March 1967. (The article noted that the conflict of interest is clearer with a solicitor general, \u201cwho represents the Justice Department before the Court,\u201d which explains why Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes\u2019 son resigned as solicitor general when his father was appointed.)<\/p>\n

Read more The Supreme Court\u2019s neutering of the First Step Act<\/a><\/p>\n

Under federal law, a justice is required to \u201cdisqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned,\u201d although there is no apparent enforcement\u00a0mechanism. The statute highlights a family member\u2019s involvement in a case as one of many potential reasons for recusal, but it doesn\u2019t offer an exhaustive definition of this. It states that justices should not hear cases in which they, their spouse, or a \u201cminor child residing\u201d in their household \u201chas a financial interest\u201d or \u201cany other interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding.\u201d It also says that recusal is required when justices, their spouse, \u201cor a person within the third degree of relationship to either of them, or the spouse of such a person\u201d is a \u201cparty to the proceeding,\u201d is \u201cacting as lawyer\u201d in the case, is a potential \u201cmaterial witness,\u201d or has an interest known to the justice that stands to be \u201csubstantially affected\u201d by the outcome of the dispute.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear under this law that a justice would be expected to recuse himself if his son were to argue a case before the court, but, as the debate over Clark\u2019s retirement illustrates, it\u2019s less clear if having a family member serving in a prominent role in the executive branch means that a justice would not be able to hear cases involving any part of the administration.<\/p>\n

In November 2023, after a series of scandals related to Alito and Thomas taking \u2013 and then not disclosing \u2013 luxury trips with people involved (or later involved) in Supreme Court cases, the court built on the federal law regarding recusals with a formal , which uses much of the same language concerning potential conflicts of interest involving family members. Under the code, justices are required to recuse themselves from \u201ca proceeding in which the Justice\u2019s impartiality might reasonably be questioned.\u201d The code defines this as a situation in which \u201can unbiased and reasonable person who is aware of all relevant circumstances would doubt that the Justice could fairly discharge his or her duties.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, as SCOTUSblog reported when the code of conduct was released, it too \u201cdoes not provide for any mechanism for its enforcement,\u201d meaning that it is up to the justices to determine what to do when a potential conflict of interest falls into a grey area. And in making that determination, the justices may err on the side of hearing the case, because, as the code says, \u201c[t]he loss of even one Justice may undermine\u201d the court\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

In a statement to NOTUS about Philip Alito\u2019s role at the Treasury Department, the Supreme Court\u2019s public information officer, Patricia McCabe, shed some light on how the court has navigated potential ethics issues. Justice Alito did not recuse himself from this term\u2019s tariffs cases, she explained, because Philip Alito \u201chas not worked on any matter related to the tariffs imposed by the federal government.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his Bloomberg column, Roth, who has often criticized the court\u2019s approach to recusals, wrote that he understands this decision. \u201cIf a case where Phil had direct involvement ever did reach his father\u2019s desk, I\u2019m confident Alito would recuse. Why? Because he\u2019s done it in the past. When Phil was working as an aide on the Senate\u2019s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in 2016, one of its subpoenas was challenged all the way to the Supreme Court. As Alito\u2019s colleagues dismissed the challenge, a court order stated that the justice \u2018 in considering it,\u201d Roth said.<\/p>\n

In any event, the ongoing debate over justices\u2019 potential conflicts of interest is unlikely to vanish as long as confusion persists over how to apply and enforce the rules for recusal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more The Supreme Court and the right to bear arms: an explainer<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Late last month, the news site NOTUS reignited the perennial debate about Supreme Court recusals when it reported that Justice Samuel Alito\u2019s son, Philip Alito, \u201cquietly landed a political appointee job as a lawyer in the Treasury Department early last year.\u201d The article claimed that the younger Alito\u2019s job raised questions about his father\u2019s ability […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":170,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-scotus-focus"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen must justices recuse themselves over family members\u2019 acts? - American Service Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=171\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When must justices recuse themselves over family members\u2019 acts? - American Service Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Late last month, the news site NOTUS reignited the perennial debate about Supreme Court recusals when it reported that Justice Samuel Alito\u2019s son, Philip Alito, \u201cquietly landed a political appointee job as a lawyer in the Treasury Department early last year.\u201d The article claimed that the younger Alito\u2019s job raised questions about his father\u2019s ability […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=171\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Service Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-10T13:43:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=171#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=171\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/220bfdac1627513926924476de32dedb\"},\"headline\":\"When must justices recuse themselves over family members\u2019 acts?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-10T13:43:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=171\"},\"wordCount\":1401,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=171#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/71005879d1b575fa4968e1550b27929b.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"SCOTUS FOCUS\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=171#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=171\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=171\",\"name\":\"When must justices recuse themselves over family members\u2019 acts? - American Service Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=171#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=171#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/71005879d1b575fa4968e1550b27929b.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-10T13:43:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/220bfdac1627513926924476de32dedb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=171#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=171\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=171#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/71005879d1b575fa4968e1550b27929b.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/71005879d1b575fa4968e1550b27929b.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":627},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=171#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"When must justices recuse themselves over family members\u2019 acts?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"American Service Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/220bfdac1627513926924476de32dedb\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"When must justices recuse themselves over family members\u2019 acts? - American Service Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=171","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"When must justices recuse themselves over family members\u2019 acts? - American Service Review","og_description":"Late last month, the news site NOTUS reignited the perennial debate about Supreme Court recusals when it reported that Justice Samuel Alito\u2019s son, Philip Alito, \u201cquietly landed a political appointee job as a lawyer in the Treasury Department early last year.\u201d The article claimed that the younger Alito\u2019s job raised questions about his father\u2019s ability […]","og_url":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=171","og_site_name":"American Service Review","article_published_time":"2026-06-10T13:43:41+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=171#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=171"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/220bfdac1627513926924476de32dedb"},"headline":"When must justices recuse themselves over family members\u2019 acts?","datePublished":"2026-06-10T13:43:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=171"},"wordCount":1401,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=171#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/71005879d1b575fa4968e1550b27929b.jpg","articleSection":["SCOTUS FOCUS"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=171#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=171","url":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=171","name":"When must justices recuse themselves over family members\u2019 acts? - American Service Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=171#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=171#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/71005879d1b575fa4968e1550b27929b.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-10T13:43:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/220bfdac1627513926924476de32dedb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=171#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=171"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=171#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/71005879d1b575fa4968e1550b27929b.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/71005879d1b575fa4968e1550b27929b.jpg","width":1200,"height":627},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=171#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"When must justices recuse themselves over family members\u2019 acts?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/","name":"American Service Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/220bfdac1627513926924476de32dedb","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/americanservicereview.com"],"url":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}