Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Thursday recused himself from a battle between Louisiana parishes and major oil companies set to be argued next week.
Alito regularly steps aside because of his direct stock holdings in more than two dozen companies, but the timing of his latest recusal was unusual.
The conservative justice participated in the case when the court decided last summer to take it up. His announcement landed less than a week before oral arguments.
In a letter to the parties, Supreme Court Clerk Scott Harris explained that Alito was recusing because of his holdings in ConocoPhillips, the parent corporation of Burlington Resources Oil and Gas Company, one of the companies named in the suit.
Before the justices agreed to get involved, Burlington Resources penned a letter to them saying the company was “withdrawing” and would not “have any other involvement” in “the above-referenced case.”
Based on that, Harris said Alito initially decided not to recuse.
“Later briefing, however, noted that Burlington remained a party in the district court,” Harris wrote in his letter.
