The Supreme Court on Tuesday announced new software designed to help justices determine when they should recuse themselves from cases, marking the court's latest response to mounting ethics scrutiny, The Hill reported.
The court said in a statement that updated rules will require attorneys to provide the stock ticker symbols of all publicly traded companies involved in their cases.
The additional disclosures are intended to support the new automated conflict-checking system. The changes take effect on March 16.
"Most of the changes are designed to support operation of newly developed software that will assist in identifying potential conflicts for the justices, and the revisions impose a number of new requirements upon filers to support the software," the court said.
The justices traditionally recuse themselves when they hold direct stock in a company involved in a case or when they previously took part in the matter while serving on a lower court.
The new system will run automated recusal checks by comparing information about parties and attorneys in a case against conflict lists maintained by each justice's chamber, according to the court.
The move follows years of heightened ethics scrutiny surrounding the high court, including investigations into justices' book deals, financial disclosures, and relationships with wealthy benefactors who provided luxury travel.
Unlike lower federal judges, who are bound by a formal code of conduct, the Supreme Court has historically not been subject to a binding ethics code.
In 2023, the justices adopted a written statement of ethical principles governing their conduct. Critics, however, have said the code lacks an enforcement mechanism.
The statement directed court officers to evaluate whether new software tools could strengthen the recusal review process.
"When issuing the Code of Conduct for Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, the justices directed court officers to evaluate whether such software might be useful for the Court," Tuesday's statement said.
Since the start of the court's term in October, the justices have recused themselves more than 30 times, according to a review of the court's docket by The Hill.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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