Associate Justice Samuel Alito in 2022.— AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File
An upside-down American flag was displayed outside Associate Justice Samuel Alito’s home Jan. 17, 2021, days after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol, reports The New York Times.
An upside-down flag is a symbol associated with Trump’s false claims of election fraud. “It was briefly placed there by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs,” Alito said in an emailed statement to the Times.
It is difficult to believe that Alito was unaware of the upside-down flag displayed outside his home and its significance, especially when he admits his wife was in a political feud with a neighbor.
“The upside-down flag has been a sign of distress and has long been a symbol of protest. More recently it has been used by Trump supporters who claim the 2020 election had been marred by fraud. The inverted flag has also been flown by anti-government extremists and white nationalists who used it as a signal of a broken nation,” said Jeff Tischauser, senior research analyst at the South Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project, reports the Associated Press.
“It’s one thing to go to a rally and see a Patriot group carrying it. It’s another thing for me to go driving past a Supreme Court justice’s house and see it,” he said.
The recent revelation about the inverted flag flying at Alito’s home is the latest blow to a Supreme Court that was already under fire as it considers cases against Trump including charges connected with rioting at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The Alito incident adds to growing concerns about an institution that’s increasingly seen as partisan and unethical.
The high court is now facing questions about whether the spouses of two of its members question the legitimacy of the 2020 election, and if those justices should be hearing cases related to the Jan. 6 riot and Trump’s role in it.
Justice Clarence Thomas was already facing calls for recusal after reports that his wife Virginia Thomas was involved in efforts to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win.
Justice Thomas has also faced criticism for receiving undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors.
Alito has already indicated his bias toward Trump.
According to an Associated Press report, “During oral arguments in the election interference case against Trump, Alito appeared skeptical of Justice Department arguments that past presidents aren’t completely immune from prosecution, and seemed one of the justices most likely to find that prosecutors went too far in bringing obstruction charges against hundreds of participants in the Jan. 6 riot.”
Alito and Thomas, whose wives are now identified with supporting the cause of violent insurrectionists, should recuse themselves from Trump-related cases.
Reprinted from The Philadelphia Tribune
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