Washington – Reports that two different flags are flying outside Justice Samuel Alito’s home have sparked a political storm and renewed attention on the Supreme Court’s ethics practices, as Democrats push legislation that would require the court to adopt a binding code of conduct and urge the justices to recuse themselves from cases involving former President Donald Trump and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Alito, his wife and the two flags
The criticism of Alito comes after The New York Times reported that an upside-down American flag was flown outside Alito’s Virginia home in mid-January 2021, and that an “Appeal to Heaven” flag was flown outside Alito’s vacation home in New Jersey in July and September 2023.
Both types of flags were flown by rioters who breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and Democrats condemned their presence outside Alito’s home.
Government Exhibition
The justice told The New York Times he had “no involvement whatsoever” in the flag being raised in front of his Virginia home in early 2021, saying in a statement that Mrs. Alito “flew it for a short time in response to a neighbor who used offensive and personally offensive language on a yard sign.” The Supreme Court did not respond to a request for comment on the “Appeal to Heaven” flag.
An upside-down American flag has been used as a distress signal, but according to the U.S. Code, “the flag shall never be flown face-down except as an emergency distress signal in times of extreme danger to life or property.”
The “Appeal to Heaven” flag, also known as the Pine Tree Flag, dates back to the American Revolutionary War and signified resistance to British colonization. According to a 2006 Congressional report, the flag was often seen “at sea as the flag of cruisers commissioned by General Washington.” The phrase “appeal to Heaven” was used by 17th-century philosopher John Locke, who wrote in his Second Treatise of Government that “whenever the people, either collectively or individually, are deprived of their rights, or placed under the exercise of powers which they have no right to, and are unable to resort to them on earth, they shall have full liberty to appeal to Heaven, if they judge them to have sufficient cause.”
In more recent times it has become associated with Christian nationalism.
Democrats call for Alito to resign from Trump immunity lawsuit on January 6
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (R-Ill.) criticized Judge Alito over those events and called for him to be removed from the Supreme Court’s cases regarding the obstruction of justice charges against the January 6th defendants and whether former President Donald Trump should be protected from criminal prosecution under executive immunity.
“He cannot play around with these political symbols without endangering his own integrity,” said Durbin, a Democrat.
Durbin said he hopes the Senate will take up the bill. Promoted by the Judicial Affairs Committee Last year, the Supreme Court adopted a binding code of ethics, requiring it to implement procedures for handling allegations of judicial misconduct.
“It’s time for the highest court in the nation to move away from minimum ethical standards,” he said.
supreme court Issued a code of conductThe bill, signed by all nine sitting judges, was passed in November but does not include an enforcement mechanism.
Forty-five House Democrats have also called on Alito to recuse himself from incidents related to the Jan. 6 attack and the 2020 election. They wrote Alito on Tuesday that even if he was not involved in raising the flag, “the fact that he made such political comments at his home creates, at the very least, the impression of inappropriate political bias.”
Republicans have largely defended Justice Alito, but some have questioned allowing the American flag to be flown upside down.
“It would not be a wise decision to do that,” Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, told reporters earlier this week. “He said his wife was furious that she had been insulted, and I believe that’s true, but he’s still a Supreme Court justice.”
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said it was “probably not wise” to give the flag political meaning, but noted other justices on the Supreme Court have taken positions with which he disagrees.
“If we want to be intellectually honest, we will look at every case that smells of political or ideological motivation,” he told reporters.
But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Supreme Court continues to be under “relentless attack.”
“We need to leave the Supreme Court alone and protect them from those who want to come into their neighborhoods and do them harm,” the Kentucky Republican said.
Reports about flag emerge as Supreme Court prepares to hand down politically biased ruling
The revelations about the flags, which were flown in January 2021 and summer 2023, come as the Supreme Court enters the final weeks of its term, with justices poised to rule on a range of politically sensitive issues, including abortion and guns, according to The New York Times. Decisions in two other cases could also have significant implications for President Trump.
The first concerns the obstruction statute used to prosecute more than 350 people accused of participating in the January 6 attack. Trump was charged with violating the statute, which makes it a crime to “corruptly” interfere with public business, and with conspiring to obstruct public business. He has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
If the Supreme Court narrows the law’s scope and finds it cannot apply to the January 6 attack, Trump could seek to have both charges dismissed.
The second lawsuit concerns whether Trump can be criminally prosecuted for alleged conduct surrounding the 2020 election. Trump argues he has blanket immunity for alleged official acts committed while in office, but special counsel Jack Smith, who filed the lawsuit, is asking the Supreme Court to reject Trump’s arguments.
The justices heard arguments in both cases in April and voted behind closed doors shortly after. At this point in the term, the justices have written opinions that are expected to be made public in the coming weeks. Supreme Court terms typically end at the end of June.
Justice Alito seems unlikely to recuse himself from the case regarding Trump and January 6, but if he were to recuse himself and the case were to be decided 5-4 with him joining, the court would be deadlocked 4-4, in which case the lower court ruling would be upheld.
In the Jan. 6 case, that means a ruling in favor of the Justice Department by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will be upheld. In the immunity case, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected Trump’s argument that he has broad immunity from federal prosecution.
If Alito refuses the call to resign, he would have the option to explain why, as he did when he resigned in September. The Democratic Party’s demands were rejected. Step back Tax case to be heard in DecemberAlito spoke to editors from The Wall Street Journal and David Rivkin, a lawyer who represents a couple involved in the tax litigation.
“There is no justification for me to recuse myself in this matter,” Justice Alito wrote in a four-page statement included in the Supreme Court’s regular list of orders.
