Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was the target of new reports raising ethical concerns about his spouse's fossil fuel lease and his close connections at a top law firm with interests in an undecided case before the court.
Alito's spouse, Martha Ann Bomgardner Alito, leased a 160-acre plot in Oklahoma to oil and gas company Citizen Energy III with an understanding that she would recoup 3/16th of the profit from fuel extracted, according to a new report from The Intercept. However, the company does not have any cases before the Supreme Court, meaning the lease does not present a direct conflict of interest to the justice's work on the high court.
Unlike other federal courts, the Supreme Court doesn't maintain an enforceable ethics code. While justices are required to file financial disclosures under the Ethics in Government Act, the choice of whether or not to recuse from cases is discretionary, though the justices do consult the same rules as lower court judges.
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