WASHINGTON — An upside-down American flag — a symbol linked to false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump — flew near Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s home after the election, the New York Times reported Thursday.
The news came as the Supreme Court ruled on two cases related to Trump and his supporters’ efforts to overturn the outcome of the election, decisions that will impact charges against Trump for criminal election interference. Supreme Court justices are expected to avoid politics.
In a statement to The New York Times, Alito said he had “no involvement whatsoever in raising the flag.”
“It was briefly posted by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of offensive and personally insulting language on yard signs,” he told the Times, referring to his wife Martha-Ann Alito.
Judge Alito says he couldn’t tell his wife Martha-Ann Alito what to do
Alito told Fox News that he had no right or ability to tell his wife what to do in the neighborhood dispute that began after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Alito also said the neighbor’s sign to which she responded by flying the flag upside down blamed her for what happened on Jan. 6.
Upside-down flags, a sign of distress, have been used by Trump supporters, especially those protesting the 2020 election.
Kathleen Clark, a legal ethics expert at Washington University in St. Louis who emphasized that she is not an authority on the meaning of an upside-down flag, said judges are not supposed to publicly show support or opposition against partisan political candidates.
“If it means ‘Stop the Steal,’ then it looks like he didn’t mind that ideological message going out into the world,” she said of the flag. “That might be political activity.”
More: Trump at the Supreme Court: Ham sandwiches and solar eclipses – Judge Alito has questions
Calls for refusal
There have already been calls for Judge Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from these decisions because of his wife’s political interests.
Virginia “Ginni” Thomas has repeatedly argued that the 2020 election was stolen and attended Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6, 2021.
Related: Amid backlash over Clarence Thomas’ journey, the Supreme Court says it will adopt its first-ever code of conduct
Stephen Gillers, a legal ethics expert at New York University Law School, told USA TODAY that he doubted Alito knew the flag was flying upside down or, if he did, was unaware was from the “Stop the Steal” group.
“I don’t believe Alito would have allowed this to happen if he knew,” Gillers said. “Although Alito’s explanation for how it happened is difficult to believe, it is more credible than the view that he consciously chose to fly the flag upside down, knowing its significance to the ‘Stop the Steal’ crowd.”
Alicia Bannon, director of the judicial program at the Brennan Center for Justice, a liberal group, said a reasonable person might question Alito’s impartiality in the ongoing cases involving Jan. 6, 2021, and the charges Trump faces .
More: Justices Thomas and Alito complain about ‘trouble’ and ‘endangered’ freedom of religion
Alito, she tweeted, should recuse herself from those cases.
But both Bannon and Clark noted that the code of conduct the court adopted last year in response to ethics controversies does not include an enforcement mechanism.
“It’s an acknowledgment that he needs to do something,” Clark said, “but it has failed to achieve the most important thing, which is to provide a mechanism for accountability.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Justice Alito flew upside down outside his home, according to reports
