Justice Alito Recuses From Case Involving Oracle, A Company In Which He Has Investments

December 16th, 2013

From today’s orders list, we see this recusal from Justice Alito:

13-328 SAGAR, VIDYA V. ORACLE CORPORATION The petition for rehearing is denied. Justice Alito took no part in the consideration or decision of this petition.

The National Journal reported earlier this year that Justice Alito has holdings in Oracle:

Alito’s investment portfolio includes holdings in Oracle Corp., a software firm; OEG Energy Corp.; Boeing; and Caterpillar.

Alito’s holdings in Chevron and AT&T led to his recusal in cases involving those companies last year.

I’ve said this before. Being a Justice is a special job. There are only 9 of them. I appreciate the need for a diverse portfolio, but there is absolutely no reason to hold individual stocks of companies that may come before the Court. Index funds and other similar financial products should suffice.