From§Each

Page A205From§Eachthe coffee break edition — 7 October 2026

THE RECUSAL

Alito warns of a 'concerted' effort to intimidate the Court, then recuses over his own oil investments.

By LouOne More Question

“Justice Alito Speaks Out on Media Harassment and Why the Rules Still Matter”, 7 October 2026 (Photo via National Review — the original report)

As it ran on the front

National Review ran a headline this week worth nine words and real craft: "Justice Alito Speaks Out on Media Harassment and Why the Rules Still Matter." Somebody earned their check.

I keep a page where I write down what people tell reporters, because I forget otherwise, and I went looking for it when I saw the rest of what ran this week. On September 28th, CBS reported that Justice Samuel Alito had recused himself from Suncor Energy v. Boulder County, the climate liability case the energy companies wanted thrown out before it ever reached a jury. The next day, Common Dreams reported that the groups who'd spent years flagging the justice's financial ties to fossil fuel interests called the recusal "the bare minimum." I wrote "bare minimum" down because it's their phrase, not mine, and I didn't want to lose it.…

…(cont) On October 2nd, two outlets previewed the CBS sit-down Justice Alito gave to promote his new book. To The Hill, he said overturning Roe v. Wade took "courage" from the six justices who voted his way. To CBS itself, he said he's staying on the bench because he believes he can "still make a valuable contribution," and that he reconsiders that decision every year. The book tour hadn't even started yet.

It started on the 4th. That Sunday, per the Washington Examiner, Justice Alito sat for Fox News Sunday and warned that a "concerted" effort to intimidate the Supreme Court threatens the Court's future, tied, he said, to the rulings the Court hands down. The Guardian, writing up that CBS interview, reported him saying that at 76 he thinks he has to contemplate retiring every year. One book. Two sit-downs, one Sunday. Three write-ups of those two, which is how a man ends up quoted in three publications on the same subject without ever adding a third conversation.

Then it was the 7th — today, as I file this. National Review ran its headline. CBS reported that the Supreme Court heard nearly two hours of argument in the Boulder case, with one seat empty. The justice missing had recused himself on the 28th, over his own financial ties to the companies on the other side of the table.

I have a toolbox in the garage I've been meaning to sort for about six years. Nothing fancy in it — a torque wrench, some sockets that don't match anything I own anymore. If I had money riding on a brake job, I wouldn't be the one signing off that the brakes passed. That's not a rule anybody wrote down for me. It's the kind of thing a person works out standing in a bank line, waiting on a teller who doesn't hold stock in the loan you're there to ask about.

I wrote both of them on the same page: the warning and the recusal. The page doesn't say which one came first in the man's mind. It says which came first on the calendar — the recusal on the 28th, the warning on the 4th, the headline today.

Sorry — one more thing, since you haven't left yet. The bench holds nine seats. On the day arguments were heard, one sat empty. What was the ninth doing that week, besides giving interviews about who's trying to intimidate it?

“You don't let the guy with money on the game call the penalty — but Alito spent the week on three shows warning somebody's coming for the Court, and the one case he sat out was the one with his own stock riding on it. That's not persecution, that's the first time somebody made him call it on himself. The intimidation he's worried about shows up with a camera crew; the conflict he recused from shows up on his investment statement.”
Sal
“Look, the man wrote a book, he's doing a media tour — that's not intimidation talk, that's publicity, and recusing is just the system working exactly like it's supposed to. Wait, is that the same week as the warning? Okay, I'm not saying it's not the same week, I'm saying the timing's a coincidence — did I just call his own ethics rule a coincidence, that doesn't sound like me.”
Chip

Earlier in this story

The receipts

Samuel Alito warns ‘concerted’ effort to intimidate Supreme Court threatens its future
Washington Examinerright§

Justice Samuel Alito warned Sunday against a coordinated effort to intimidate the Supreme Court, which he said threatens the high court’s future as justices face threats and public pressure related to the rulings handed down. Alito, 76, sat down with Fox News Sunday to promote his book, So Ordered: An Originalist’s View of the…

After Two Botched Attempts, UN Experts Urge Tennessee Not to Try to Execute Christa Pike Again Tennessee failed to kill Christa Pike twice. UN experts say stop before a third.
Common Dreams§

United Nations human rights experts on Thursday joined the growing chorus of people around the world outraged by Tennessee's two botched attempts to execute Christa Pike and called on the state to refrain from trying again to kill the 50-year-old woman. After a last-minute legal battle , the US Supreme Court allowed Tennessee to execute…

Conservative US supreme court justice Samuel Alito hints at retirement in interview
The Guardianmainstream§

Alito, 76, delivers comment in rare interview with CBS News scheduled to air on Monday Samuel Alito , the conservative US supreme court justice, has said “I think I have to” contemplate retiring every year at his age. Alito, 76, delivered that comment in a rare interview with CBS News scheduled to air on Monday, a little more than six…

Christa Pike Hospitalized After Surviving 2 Lethal Injection Doses in Tennessee Tennessee has now botched two executions this year
Truthout§

This represents the second failed attempt at an execution via lethal injection in Tennessee this year alone.

Red states exude confidence after Supreme Court climate arguments
The Hillmainstream§

Two Republican-led states say their massive lawsuits against social media and drug companies are no permission slip for the blockbuster fossil fuel industry lawsuit that reached the Supreme Court this week. “When you look at our opioid cases, they went directly at the problem,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall (R) told The Gavel.

Botched US execution prompts global calls to scrap death penalty Tennessee tried to kill her with pentobarbital. She survived.
Le Mondemainstream§

Christa Pike was taken to a hospital after the failed attempts to put her to death in Tennessee on Wednesday night. Her condition was not known and officials have not said how she survived the deadly doses of pentobarbital.

· Supreme Court Justice Alito on deciding when to retire from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026

· Alito: Overturning Roe v. Wade took 'courage' from Supreme Court justices from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026

· Samuel Alito says that political attacks aimed at Supreme Court can be "quite damaging" from the morgue, 4 Oct 2026

· Alito recuses from major climate change case to be decided by the Supreme Court from the morgue, 28 Sep 2026

· Alito Recusal in Landmark Climate Case Called 'Bare Minimum' Given Big Oil Tactics from the morgue, 29 Sep 2026

· Tennessee Corrections commissioner resigns days after failed Christa Pike execution from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026

· Tennessee Prison Chief Was Hired Despite a Trail of Troubled Executions from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026

· Prison chief in Christa Pike case oversaw five ‘botched’ executions, lawyers say from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026

· Pike's botched execution renews death penalty scrutiny from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026

· After failed execution, health workers say Tennessee's method flouts medical ethics from the morgue, 30 Sep 2026

· Supreme Court Allows Execution of Christa Pike, Tennessee’s Lone Woman on Death Row from the morgue, 30 Sep 2026

· Federal court halts Christa Pike's execution from the morgue, 30 Sep 2026

· White House defends media outlet bans, now citing 'professionalism' standards from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026

· Sunday Shows Preview: Trump bans 3 media outlets from White House; Parties make final cases as midterms approach from the morgue, 19 Sep 2026

· Vance defends White House media ban: ‘Politico is as anti-Trump as Breitbart was anti-Obama or anti-Biden’ from the morgue, 21 Sep 2026

· Vance defends Trump's media ban as 'totally appropriate' from the morgue, 21 Sep 2026

· Bill Clinton: 'There were lots of times when I wanted to ban the White House press corps' from the morgue, 25 Sep 2026

· Tennessee prison chief to resign after Christa Pike's failed execution, governor says from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026

· Federal Appellate Court Halts Tennessee's Planned Execution of Christa Pike from the morgue, 30 Sep 2026

· Supreme Court declines Christa Pike's clemency appeal, with Tennessee set to execute first woman in 200 years from the morgue, 29 Sep 2026

· Supreme Court allows execution of Christa Pike to go forward from the morgue, 30 Sep 2026

· Tennessee court makes last minute move to temporarily halt Christa Pike's execution from the morgue, 30 Sep 2026

· DOJ petitions judge to reinstate White House ban on CNN, MS Now, and Politico from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026

· Trump White House Restores Access to Politico, MS NOW, CNN Reporters Hours After Judge's Order from the morgue, 24 Sep 2026

· Judge orders White House to restore media access temporarily for blocked outlets from the morgue, 24 Sep 2026

· CNN, MS NOW and Politico reporters regain entry to White House from the morgue, 24 Sep 2026

· Tennessee prison system head to resign after failed Christa Pike execution from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026

· Tennessee Prison Commissioner Resigns Days After Failed Execution from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026

· Tennessee prison chief resigns after Christa Pike’s botched execution from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026

· Christa Pike’s Tennessee execution halted by court an hour before it was scheduled from the morgue, 30 Sep 2026

· Christa Pike thought her arm would ‘burst open’ during botched Tennessee execution: court docs from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026

· Death row inmate unconscious on ventilator after botched execution for teen’s killing: attorneys from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026

· Christa Pike remains unconscious and on ventilator after failed execution in Tennessee from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026

· Christa Pike unconscious and intubated after failed execution, lawyers say from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026

· Christa Pike Was Unconscious and on Ventilator After Execution Attempt from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026

· How legislatures and the courts sabotage the death penalty from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026

· Tennessee inmate survived two lethal injections, her lawyer says in motion to halt execution from the morgue, 28 Sep 2026

· Tennessee Attempted to Execute a Sexual Assault Victim from the morgue, 22 Sep 2026

· Tennessee prepares to execute the first woman in over 200 years from the morgue, 29 Sep 2026

· Questions emerge after Christa Pike's botched execution from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026

· Tennessee executed Christa Pike by the book. She survived from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026

· Christa Pike in critical condition after failed execution attempts: Lawyer from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026

· Christa Pike left in ‘critical condition’ as Tennessee halts all executions from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026

· Christa Pike’s botched lethal injection takes focus off victim, jeopardizes execution: former police chief from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026

· Tennessee suspends executions as Christa Pike’s lawyer says failed lethal injection leaves her in critical condition from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026

· States should not blindly Alabama's use of execution by nitrogen from the morgue, 28 Sep 2026

· Lawyers, experts urge Tennessee governor to commute Christa Pike’s sentence after botched execution from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026

· Botched execution of death row inmate from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026

· Legal expert on what could happen after botched execution of Christa Pike from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026

· After Failed Attempt to Execute Christa Pike, Tennessee Pauses a Planned Execution from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026

· Lone woman death row inmate Christa Pike says she’s ‘at peace’ ahead of execution — as Tennessee gov. denies last-ditch bid for clemency from the morgue, 29 Sep 2026

· Judge restores Seattle US attorney who Trump fired after court appointment from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026

· Judge rejects Trump administration arguments for withholding boat strike justification memo from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026

· Fourth Circuit worried Trump’s US attorney appointments unlawfully cut out Senate from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Judge blocks Trump executive order banning ‘birth tourism’ from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026

· Tennessee Pauses Executions After a Botched Lethal Injection from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026

· The Memo: Tennessee debacle revives bitter debate over death penalty from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026

· The Supreme Court of the United States rules 5–4 to lift the block on four federal executions scheduled for July and August. Convicted murderer Daniel Lewis Lee, whose execution was scheduled for the from the morgue, 14 Jul 2020

· The Supreme Court of the United States refuses to vacate a stay of execution issued by the Arkansas Supreme Court. Arkansas's highest court has also put on hold the execution of another inmate, Bruce from the morgue, 18 Apr 2017

· Judge blocks Trump's firing of top federal prosecutor in Seattle from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026

· Judge reinstates Washington state US attorney fired by Trump from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026

· CNN, MS Now, and Politico ask judge to extend order pausing Trump’s ban from the morgue, 29 Sep 2026

· Trump dumbfounded on why death row inmate Christa Pike couldn’t be executed: ‘Should be easy to do’ from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026

· Trump administration asks Supreme Court to OK transgender inmate policy from the morgue, 28 Sep 2026

· Infamous Murderer ‘Critically Ill’ After Surviving Two Botched Lethal Injections: REPORT from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026

· Blackburn calls on TN to 'bring back' electric chair after botched Christa Pike execution from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026

· Mom of Christa Pike’s victim has furious response to watching failed execution: ‘They f–ked up’ from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026

· What to know about pentobarbital after death row inmate survives 2 lethal injection doses from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026

· Am I Lying to Myself About the Death Penalty? from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026

· United States district court judge Jeremy Fogel imposes a moratorium on lethal injections in California stating that they are unconstitutional. In an unrelated incident, the Governor of Florida Jeb Bu from the morgue, 15 Dec 2006

· John Marek becomes the 68th death row inmate in the state of Florida, United States to be executed by lethal injection since the death sentence was re-instated in 1979.(Miami Herald) from the morgue, 19 Aug 2009

· U.S. President Joe Biden commutes the death sentences of 37 out of the 44 federal death row inmates to life imprisonment. The exceptions are Dylann Roof, Robert Gregory Bowers, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, from the morgue, 23 Dec 2024

· The death penalty: 50 years after reinstatement from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026

· After nitrogen execution blocked, Alabama inmate to die by lethal injection from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026

· Tennessee governor halts executions after Christa Pike survives 2 lethal injection attempts from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026

· Christa Pike's failed execution follows another in Tennessee this year from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026

· US Supreme Court clears way for Tennessee woman's imminent execution from the morgue, 1 Oct 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.