The Supreme Court's 91-page orders list from Monday disposed of more than 2,000 cases that accumulated over the summer. The list noted several justices recusing in some of the cases. New Justice Sonia Sotomayor recused most often, bowing out of 76 cases on the list. That's to be expected, because she sat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit before becoming a justice this summer. It is customary for justices to recuse in cases in which they participated at an earlier stage; most if not all of Sotomayor's recusals on Monday were in cases from that circuit.
Other justices also recused in cases on Monday's list. Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. did not participate in five cases, apparently because of ownership in stocks including Pfizer and Sony. Justice Samuel Alito Jr. recused in a case involving ExxonMobil, whose stock he owns. according to financial disclosure forms. As he has in the past, Justice Clarence Thomas recused in a case involving United Healthcare for unknown reasons. And Justice Stephen Breyer recused in four cases. Two appeared to be related to stocks, and two were criminal cases from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Breyer makes it a practice to recuse in cases that were handled by his brother Charles, a federal trial judge in the Northern District of California, part of the 9th circuit.
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