Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito had already earned a reputation as one of the most controversial members of the Supreme Court. The author of a number of infamous rulings, the Bush-appointed judge has, among other things, made openly political speeches, endorsed the work of an advocacy group, gotten a little too good at dealing with the conservative media, and declared his indifference to congressional oversight.
But last week, The New York Times published this report, taking justice concerns to a new level. In early 2021, between the January 6 attack and Joe Biden’s inauguration, an upside-down American flag flew in front of Alito’s home. At the time, it was a prominent symbol embraced by far-right “Stop the Steal” activists who believed nonsensical conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
The Times report added: “While the flag was down, the court was still grappling with whether to hear a 2020 election case, with Justice Alito finding himself on the losing side of that decision.”
By way of explanation, the judge told the newspaper that he was not involved in the display, adding: “It was briefly posted by Ms. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of offensive and personally insulting language on yard signs.”
Alito did not deny the inverted flag or deny its meaning. However, he blamed his wife – which is as unconvincing as it seems.
After the report shocked the political world, Alito turned to – who else? – Fox News, explaining that his wife raised the upside-down flag after some unpleasant interactions with so-called rude neighbors.
The judge also told Fox that “some of the neighbors on his street were ‘very political’” — unlike, say, the Alitos.
If anything, his comments made matters worse: According to Alito’s own account, at one controversial moment an anti-election symbol flew in front of his house because some people were rude to his wife – indicating that there was a positive attitude from the start understanding. symbolic meaning of the flag.
Moreover, the far-right lawyer – in comments to the Times and Fox – did not deny the upside-down flag or explain why exactly his wife thought he would fly that symbol in response to unpleasant neighbors.
So far, Democrats in Congress have not called on Alito to resign. Nor have they initiated any impeachment proceedings (although there have been online conversations along these lines). That said, as NBC News reported, there have been several calls for the judge to recuse himself from relevant cases.
“The raising of an upside-down American flag – a symbol of the so-called ‘Stop the Steal’ movement – clearly creates the appearance of bias,” said the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “Judge Alito must immediately recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election and the January 6 insurrection.”
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal made similar comments on MSNBC on Friday evening.
Around the same time, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement: “Samuel Alito must immediately apologize for disrespecting the American flag and sympathizing with right-wing violent insurrectionists. He must recuse himself from matters surrounding the 2020 election and former President Donald Trump. Congress should immediately consider legislation to impose a code of ethics on a runaway Supreme Court. The Constitution demands and the American people deserve more from a justice sitting on the highest court in the land than from baseless election denial.”
My MSNBC colleague Jordan Rubin recently convincingly argued that Alito, unconcerned with appearances, will almost certainly ignore the calls from Democrats in Congress, though I can’t imagine he has heard the last of them.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
