Multiple Senate Democrats have joined the chorus of congressional Democrats calling on Supreme Court Justice Samuel J. Alito to recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election after a second flag related to the Jan. 6 riot was reported at his residence in New Jersey.
Most notably, Majority Whip Sen. Dick Durbin (D–Ill.) called for Alito's ouster and the adoption of a code of ethics for judges amid fallout from the ongoing Supreme Court controversies.
“This incident is yet another example of apparent ethical misconduct by a sitting justice and adds to the Court's ongoing ethical crisis.” Durbin said in a statement. “For the good of our country and the good of the Court, Justice Alito must immediately recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election and the January 6th uprising.”
Durbin repeated his comments on X/Twitter with a screenshot of it New York Times history that broke the news that Alito's beach house bears the “Appeal to Heaven,” also known as the Pine Flag, a Revolutionary War-era flag that has since been co-opted by far-right Christian nationalists and members of “Stop the Steal” movement.
Another senator calling for Alito's impeachment is Sen. Joe Blumenthal (D–Conn.), who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Blumenthal appeared on MSNBC All In with Chris Hayes on Wednesday to speak on the matter. Blumenthal compared Alito's display of the flag to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R.L.A.), who has the flag on display outside his congressional office.
“Supreme Court justices are supposed to be above reproach and above politics, and I am sad, truly sad and shocked to say that Justice Alito is quickly showing that he is unfit to serve on the United States Supreme Court,” Blumenthal said. “At the very least, he should exonerate himself from these cases that are now before the court.”
The comments come a day after 45 House Democrats signed a letter to Justice Alito asking him to recuse himself from cases involving the Jan. 6 riot, which stemmed from an earlier flag dispute in which an upside-down U.S. flag — another symbol associated with the 2020 election — rejecting the “Stop the Steal” movement — was seen at Alito's home.
During an oral argument on a Jan. 6 case this term, Alito asked Inspector General Elizabeth Prelogar if what happened on Jan. 6 amounted to protesters disrupting Supreme Court hearings.
“I think it's in a fundamentally different stance,” Prelogar said after some back-and-forth.
“Yes, indeed, absolutely. What happened on Jan. 6 was very, very serious, and I'm not equating that with that,” Alito responded before adding, “But we need to know what — what are the outer limits of that statute under your interpretation.”
On another occasion, Alito identified Jan. 6 with a pro-Palestine rally in San Francisco.
“Yesterday protesters blocked the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and stopped traffic in San Francisco,” Alito said. “What if something like that happened around the Capitol, so members – all the bridges from Virginia were blocked, and members from Virginia who had to appear at a hearing couldn't get there or were delayed getting there ; Would that be a breach of that provision?'
Alito is not the only Supreme Court justice to come under fire recently. Justice Clarence Thomas has also faced heavy criticism for accepting expensive gifts from right-wing billionaire Harlan Crow and conservative activist Leonard Leo. Revelations of the gifts prompted the Supreme Court to adopt a Code of Conduct in November, although the Court has no enforcement mechanism if judges violate it.
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/samuel-alito-senators-recusal-flag-controversy-1235026199/