But she said Ms. Dudley had not crossed any lines requiring disqualification.
The more conservative ones suggested that there was no principled way to decide when campaign spending required disqualification.
"Under no circumstances, by any stretch of the imagination, would that alone require disqualification," said Steven Lubet, a legal ethics professor at Northwestern University.
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for the majority in a decision that split along familiar ideological lines, said the Constitution required disqualification when an interested party's spending had a "disproportionate influence" in a case that was "pending or imminent".
And while the overhaul means the judge's pension will be smaller despite having to contribute more, she said that was true of all judges in the state: "If my financial interest should require disqualification, then all other state judges would be similarly required to recuse themselves".
True conflicts of interest generally do require disqualification, except when outweighed by the need for a person's services.
Conflicts of interest generally do require disqualification, except where outweighed by the need for a person's services.
The court made clear, however, that campaign spending requires the disqualification of a judge only rarely.
Justice Breyer's wife owned stock in Nestlé, and that would have required his disqualification.
According to Justice Breyer's most recent financial disclosure forms, his family owned stock in Nestlé, which would ordinarily require his disqualification.
The judges ruled that Charles Schwarz, who was convicted of holding Mr. Louima down during the attack in the bathroom, had been denied a fair trial because his attorney had conflicts of interest that required his disqualification.
