The Supreme Court began its new term Monday with cases on climate change, immigration, voting laws and more on the docket. Ahead of the term, CBS News' Jan Crawford sat down the Justice Samuel Alito. Crawford joins "The Takeout" with her takeaways from the interview.
Page A2From§Eachthe late evening edition — 5 October 2026
Alito says the Court isn't political, calls overturning Roe courage, and recused from a major climate case.
As it ran on the front
On October 5, Justice Samuel Alito sat down with CBS News and told chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford, "We are not part of any political movement." Damaging to what, he did not say.
He had already supplied the answer a week earlier. On September 28, Alito recused himself from Suncor Energy v. County Commissioners of Boulder County, the climate case nearly a decade in the making that could let cities and states sue oil companies for the costs of a warming planet. He offered no explanation. The next day, Common Dreams called the recusal the bare minimum, citing years of pressure over what critics describe as Alito's conflicts of interest with the industry the case is about. A justice with no politics had just stepped out of the one case where his own exposure might show.…
…(cont) Alito didn't name a tax ruling or a procedural call. He named Dobbs, the 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Courage is a word for a fight.
By Monday, when the new term opened, the case Alito had quietly left was already before the justices who hadn't recused. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who had led 26 states urging the Court to halt the Boulder lawsuit before it ever reached argument, went on CBS News that same day to make the industry's case for ending it. He didn't need to have stood at the lectern; the invitation to explain why oil companies should be shielded from the lawsuits was enough. The same week, Alito told CBS the justices answer to no movement, no party, no politics — in an interview about a climate case he'd just left, a Roe decision he called courageous, and a decision not to retire that he says he reconsiders every year because he can "still make a valuable contribution."
“Alito recuses from the one case that might cost oil companies money and keeps his seat on everything else — that's not an ethics policy, that's portfolio management. He calls it "not political" the same week he calls overturning Roe "courage," and courage is a word you use for a fight, not a ruling. The guy running the con doesn't need you to believe him, he just needs you distracted long enough to cash the check.”
“Recusal is recusal — stepping off one case is the system working exactly as designed, nothing to see here. He only stepped off the case touching his own conflicts of — did I say conflicts? That's not — look, the Court isn't political, it just happens that overturning Roe gets called "courage" instead of a ruling.”
The receipts
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito gave a rare interview to CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford. He said it is wrong for leaders of both parties to portray the justices as political players.
The Supreme Court is weighing whether state and local governments can sue energy companies over alleged harm caused by climate change. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who led 26 states in urging the high court to halt a climate lawsuit from Boulder, Colorado, joins CBS News to discuss.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito told CBS News he thinks criticism of the Supreme Court from political leaders can be "quite damaging." CBS News legal contributor Jessica Levinson shares her thoughts on the interview and the upcoming docket for the high court as it begins a new term.
· Justice Alito recuses himself from major Supreme Court climate change case from the morgue, 28 Sep 2026
· Alito: Overturning Roe v. Wade took 'courage' from Supreme Court justices from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026
· Supreme Court Justice Alito on deciding when to retire from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026
· Alito Recusal in Landmark Climate Case Called 'Bare Minimum' Given Big Oil Tactics from the morgue, 29 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.