WASHINGTON, D.C., May 17, 2024 – Last night, the New York Times reported that in the wake of the January 6 insurrection, Justice Samuel Alito’s home was flying an upside-down American flag, a symbol of the “Stop the Steal” campaign to overturn the 2020 election results. Alito passed the buck to his wife, Martha-Ann Alito, for flying the flag in response to neighbors whose yard signs she found offensive toward President Trump. But under the Code of Judicial Conduct, it does not matter whether it was Justice Alito or his wife who flew the flag on his property so long as he knew it was being flown and did nothing to stop it.
Alito has ruled on several cases related to January 6 and is currently weighing whether Trump is somehow immune to prosecution for his role in the violent, anti-democratic protest. He joins Justice Clarence Thomas, whose wife Ginni Thomas was an active participant in the “Stop the Steal” campaign, in having participated in cases where there is a clear bias, and he can under no circumstances be considered impartial. Indeed, there are now two Supreme Court justices compromised by sympathy for attempts to overturn the results of a free and fair election.
Alliance for Justice President Rakim H.D. Brooks issued the following statement:
“Supreme Court justices are supposed to be the ultimate guardians of our Constitution, yet now we know of two who are sympathetic to violent attempts to overturn our democracy. Even before this latest revelation, Justice Alito had done immeasurable damage to our rights and freedoms through decisions that reinvent history to cater to his preferred outcome. Now we know that Alito’s willingness to rewrite history includes overturning the results of the 2020 election.
“We call on Justice Alito to recuse from any case related to President Trump or the January 6 insurrection; it’s clear that he’s incapable of being impartial on these cases and our democracy cannot be trusted in his hands.”