U.S. Supreme Court Watch 3 justices maintain stock holdings

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - New personal financial disclosures from the Supreme Court show that Chief Justice John Roberts and two other justices are maintaining significant investments in individual companies' stock. The details of investments held by Roberts, Justice Samuel Alito and Justice Stephen Breyer are in annual financial reports released last week by the federal judiciary. Roberts holds stock worth $250,000 to $500,000 each in Time Warner Inc. and Microsoft Corp., and smaller investments in other technology and communications companies. Breyer was forced to sit out a patent case in the spring that involved Cisco Systems, Inc., because he owns up to $100,000 in Cisco stock. Breyer's largest holding, worth more than $1 million, is in British media and education company Pearson PLC. Breyer's wife, Joanna, is part of the family that founded the company. Alito continues to invest in Exxon Mobil Corp. and other energy stocks, as well as pharmaceutical companies and Boeing Co. Alito also sold several stocks in 2014, including shares of Coca-Cola Co. worth $15,000 to $50,000. That stock sale in April 2014 allowed Alito to take part in a Supreme Court dispute between Coca-Cola and Pom Wonderful. Federal law allows judges to defer taxes on any money they make when they sell a stock in order to avoid a conflict of interest. The reports were released later than in past years, seven weeks after all but one were filed. Alito filed an amended report, but it was unclear what had been changed. The Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, the central repository for federal judges' disclosure forms, had earlier attributed the delay to seeking clarifications from some of the justices at a busy time of the year for them. Published: Thu, Jul 09, 2015