Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 36,321
Alito rejects calls to quit Supreme Court cases on Trump and Jan. 6 because of flag controversies
By MARK SHERMAN
1 hour ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Samuel Alito is rejecting calls to step aside from Supreme Court cases involving former President Donald Trump and Jan. 6 defendants because of the controversy over flags that flew over his homes.
In letters to members of Congress on Wednesday, Alito said his wife, Martha-Ann, was responsible for flying an upside-down flag over his home in 2021 and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag at his New Jersey beach house last year. Both flags were like those carried by rioters who violently stormed the Capitol in January 2021 while echoing Trump’s false claims of election fraud.
Neither incident at Alito's homes merited his recusal, wrote the justice, who has rejected calls from Democrats in the past to recuse on other issues.
“I am confident that a reasonable person who is not motivated by political or ideological considerations or a desire to affect the outcome of Supreme Court cases would conclude that the events ... do not meet the applicable standard for recusal,” he wrote. “I am therefore required to reject your request.”
Supreme Court justices decide for themselves whether to sit out a case and the only potential consequence for refusing to step aside is impeachment by the House of Representatives and removal from office by the Senate. That has never happened in American history.
Trump, who was in New York while jurors deliberated in his hush money criminal trial, congratulated Alito for “showing the INTELLIGENCE, COURAGE, and ‘GUTS’” in refusing to step aside. “All U.S. Judges, Justices, and Leaders should have such GRIT,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
Some Senate Republicans also quickly took to social media Wednesday to praise Alito for staying involved in the cases.
The court is considering two major cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by a mob of Trump supporters on the Capitol, including charges faced by the rioters and whether Trump has immunity from prosecution on election interference charges.
The New York Times reported that an inverted American flag was seen at Alito’s home in Alexandria, Virginia, less than two weeks after the attack on the Capitol. The paper also reported that an “Appeal to Heaven” flag was flown outside the justice’s beach home in New Jersey last summer.
The “Appeal to Heaven” flag has in recent years come to symbolize sympathies with the Christian nationalist movement and the false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump. According to Americanflags.com, the pine tree on the flag symbolized strength and resilience in the New England colonies while the words “Appeal to Heaven” stemmed from the belief that God would deliver the colonists from tyranny.
An upside-down American flag has come to be a symbol associated with Trump’s bogus fraud claims. Dozens of the pro-Trump rioters were carrying similarly inverted flags and chanting slogans like “Stop the Steal” on Jan. 6, 2021. The U.S. Flag Code states that the American flag is not to be flown upside down “except as a signal of dire distress in instance of extreme danger to life or property.” The inverted flag has been used as a protest symbol on both the left and the right on a range of issues over the decades.
Alito said he was unaware that the upside-down flag was flying above his house until it was called to his attention. “As soon as I saw it, I asked my wife to take it down, but for several days, she refused,” he wrote in nearly identical letters to Democrats in the House and the Senate.
He had previously explained to the newspaper that his wife put up the flag as part of a nasty neighborhood dispute.
The flag at his beach house was also hoisted by his wife, Alito wrote, noting that the house is in her name and was bought with money she inherited from her parents.
“My wife is fond of flying flags. I am not,” he wrote.
Alito said he was unfamiliar with the “Appeal to Heaven” flag when it was flown, but he noted it dates back to the American Revolution. “I was not aware of any connection between this historic flag and the 'Stop the Steal Movement' and neither was my wife,” Alito wrote.
He said Martha-Ann Alito did not fly that flag to associate herself with the rioters or the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which Trump, a Republican, lost to Joe Biden, a Democrat.
Calling her an independently-minded private citizen, Alito wrote, “She makes her own decisions and I honor her right to do so.”
Democrats in the House and the Senate sent a total of three letters last week to Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts seeking Alito's disqualification from the cases. Senators asked for a meeting with Roberts.
Alito said it was better that he respond directly.
Judicial ethics codes focus on the need for judges to be independent, avoiding political statements or opinions on matters they could be called on to decide. The Supreme Court had long gone without its own code of ethics, but it adopted one in November 2023 in the face of sustained criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices.
The code lacks a means of enforcement, though, and the Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation last year that would set stricter standards. But Republicans have been staunchly opposed to any efforts to tell the court what to do.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Alito rejects calls to quit Supreme Court cases on Trump and Jan. 6 because of flag controversies
By MARK SHERMAN
1 hour ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Samuel Alito is rejecting calls to step aside from Supreme Court cases involving former President Donald Trump and Jan. 6 defendants because of the controversy over flags that flew over his homes.
In letters to members of Congress on Wednesday, Alito said his wife, Martha-Ann, was responsible for flying an upside-down flag over his home in 2021 and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag at his New Jersey beach house last year. Both flags were like those carried by rioters who violently stormed the Capitol in January 2021 while echoing Trump’s false claims of election fraud.
Neither incident at Alito's homes merited his recusal, wrote the justice, who has rejected calls from Democrats in the past to recuse on other issues.
“I am confident that a reasonable person who is not motivated by political or ideological considerations or a desire to affect the outcome of Supreme Court cases would conclude that the events ... do not meet the applicable standard for recusal,” he wrote. “I am therefore required to reject your request.”
Supreme Court justices decide for themselves whether to sit out a case and the only potential consequence for refusing to step aside is impeachment by the House of Representatives and removal from office by the Senate. That has never happened in American history.
Trump, who was in New York while jurors deliberated in his hush money criminal trial, congratulated Alito for “showing the INTELLIGENCE, COURAGE, and ‘GUTS’” in refusing to step aside. “All U.S. Judges, Justices, and Leaders should have such GRIT,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
Some Senate Republicans also quickly took to social media Wednesday to praise Alito for staying involved in the cases.
The court is considering two major cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by a mob of Trump supporters on the Capitol, including charges faced by the rioters and whether Trump has immunity from prosecution on election interference charges.
The New York Times reported that an inverted American flag was seen at Alito’s home in Alexandria, Virginia, less than two weeks after the attack on the Capitol. The paper also reported that an “Appeal to Heaven” flag was flown outside the justice’s beach home in New Jersey last summer.
The “Appeal to Heaven” flag has in recent years come to symbolize sympathies with the Christian nationalist movement and the false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump. According to Americanflags.com, the pine tree on the flag symbolized strength and resilience in the New England colonies while the words “Appeal to Heaven” stemmed from the belief that God would deliver the colonists from tyranny.
An upside-down American flag has come to be a symbol associated with Trump’s bogus fraud claims. Dozens of the pro-Trump rioters were carrying similarly inverted flags and chanting slogans like “Stop the Steal” on Jan. 6, 2021. The U.S. Flag Code states that the American flag is not to be flown upside down “except as a signal of dire distress in instance of extreme danger to life or property.” The inverted flag has been used as a protest symbol on both the left and the right on a range of issues over the decades.
Alito said he was unaware that the upside-down flag was flying above his house until it was called to his attention. “As soon as I saw it, I asked my wife to take it down, but for several days, she refused,” he wrote in nearly identical letters to Democrats in the House and the Senate.
He had previously explained to the newspaper that his wife put up the flag as part of a nasty neighborhood dispute.
The flag at his beach house was also hoisted by his wife, Alito wrote, noting that the house is in her name and was bought with money she inherited from her parents.
“My wife is fond of flying flags. I am not,” he wrote.
Alito said he was unfamiliar with the “Appeal to Heaven” flag when it was flown, but he noted it dates back to the American Revolution. “I was not aware of any connection between this historic flag and the 'Stop the Steal Movement' and neither was my wife,” Alito wrote.
He said Martha-Ann Alito did not fly that flag to associate herself with the rioters or the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which Trump, a Republican, lost to Joe Biden, a Democrat.
Calling her an independently-minded private citizen, Alito wrote, “She makes her own decisions and I honor her right to do so.”
Democrats in the House and the Senate sent a total of three letters last week to Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts seeking Alito's disqualification from the cases. Senators asked for a meeting with Roberts.
Alito said it was better that he respond directly.
Judicial ethics codes focus on the need for judges to be independent, avoiding political statements or opinions on matters they could be called on to decide. The Supreme Court had long gone without its own code of ethics, but it adopted one in November 2023 in the face of sustained criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices.
The code lacks a means of enforcement, though, and the Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation last year that would set stricter standards. But Republicans have been staunchly opposed to any efforts to tell the court what to do.
Alito rejects calls to quit Supreme Court cases on Trump and Jan. 6 because of flag controversies
By MARK SHERMAN
1 hour ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Samuel Alito is rejecting calls to step aside from Supreme Court cases involving former President Donald Trump and Jan. 6 defendants because of the controversy over flags that flew over his homes.
In letters to members of Congress on Wednesday, Alito said his wife, Martha-Ann, was responsible for flying an upside-down flag over his home in 2021 and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag at his New Jersey beach house last year. Both flags were like those carried by rioters who violently stormed the Capitol in January 2021 while echoing Trump’s false claims of election fraud.
Neither incident at Alito's homes merited his recusal, wrote the justice, who has rejected calls from Democrats in the past to recuse on other issues.
“I am confident that a reasonable person who is not motivated by political or ideological considerations or a desire to affect the outcome of Supreme Court cases would conclude that the events ... do not meet the applicable standard for recusal,” he wrote. “I am therefore required to reject your request.”
Supreme Court justices decide for themselves whether to sit out a case and the only potential consequence for refusing to step aside is impeachment by the House of Representatives and removal from office by the Senate. That has never happened in American history.
Trump, who was in New York while jurors deliberated in his hush money criminal trial, congratulated Alito for “showing the INTELLIGENCE, COURAGE, and ‘GUTS’” in refusing to step aside. “All U.S. Judges, Justices, and Leaders should have such GRIT,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
Some Senate Republicans also quickly took to social media Wednesday to praise Alito for staying involved in the cases.
The court is considering two major cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by a mob of Trump supporters on the Capitol, including charges faced by the rioters and whether Trump has immunity from prosecution on election interference charges.
The New York Times reported that an inverted American flag was seen at Alito’s home in Alexandria, Virginia, less than two weeks after the attack on the Capitol. The paper also reported that an “Appeal to Heaven” flag was flown outside the justice’s beach home in New Jersey last summer.
The “Appeal to Heaven” flag has in recent years come to symbolize sympathies with the Christian nationalist movement and the false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump. According to Americanflags.com, the pine tree on the flag symbolized strength and resilience in the New England colonies while the words “Appeal to Heaven” stemmed from the belief that God would deliver the colonists from tyranny.
An upside-down American flag has come to be a symbol associated with Trump’s bogus fraud claims. Dozens of the pro-Trump rioters were carrying similarly inverted flags and chanting slogans like “Stop the Steal” on Jan. 6, 2021. The U.S. Flag Code states that the American flag is not to be flown upside down “except as a signal of dire distress in instance of extreme danger to life or property.” The inverted flag has been used as a protest symbol on both the left and the right on a range of issues over the decades.
Alito said he was unaware that the upside-down flag was flying above his house until it was called to his attention. “As soon as I saw it, I asked my wife to take it down, but for several days, she refused,” he wrote in nearly identical letters to Democrats in the House and the Senate.
He had previously explained to the newspaper that his wife put up the flag as part of a nasty neighborhood dispute.
The flag at his beach house was also hoisted by his wife, Alito wrote, noting that the house is in her name and was bought with money she inherited from her parents.
“My wife is fond of flying flags. I am not,” he wrote.
Alito said he was unfamiliar with the “Appeal to Heaven” flag when it was flown, but he noted it dates back to the American Revolution. “I was not aware of any connection between this historic flag and the 'Stop the Steal Movement' and neither was my wife,” Alito wrote.
He said Martha-Ann Alito did not fly that flag to associate herself with the rioters or the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which Trump, a Republican, lost to Joe Biden, a Democrat.
Calling her an independently-minded private citizen, Alito wrote, “She makes her own decisions and I honor her right to do so.”
Democrats in the House and the Senate sent a total of three letters last week to Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts seeking Alito's disqualification from the cases. Senators asked for a meeting with Roberts.
Alito said it was better that he respond directly.
Judicial ethics codes focus on the need for judges to be independent, avoiding political statements or opinions on matters they could be called on to decide. The Supreme Court had long gone without its own code of ethics, but it adopted one in November 2023 in the face of sustained criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices.
The code lacks a means of enforcement, though, and the Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation last year that would set stricter standards. But Republicans have been staunchly opposed to any efforts to tell the court what to do.
it tracks. this mf is not even trying to hide the fact that he is all in the tank for trump.
court needs to be expanded to 13 immediately. nullify this crap once and for all.
yes, one justice per district. term limits as currently constituted of 18 yrs, one justice rotating off every 2 yrs. if expanded to 13 then 26 yr terms , same rotation of one gone every 2 yrs. every president will be able to nominate 2 justices, nomination for each to occur in yr one and three of a presidential term.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Alito rejects calls to quit Supreme Court cases on Trump and Jan. 6 because of flag controversies
By MARK SHERMAN
1 hour ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Samuel Alito is rejecting calls to step aside from Supreme Court cases involving former President Donald Trump and Jan. 6 defendants because of the controversy over flags that flew over his homes.
In letters to members of Congress on Wednesday, Alito said his wife, Martha-Ann, was responsible for flying an upside-down flag over his home in 2021 and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag at his New Jersey beach house last year. Both flags were like those carried by rioters who violently stormed the Capitol in January 2021 while echoing Trump’s false claims of election fraud.
Neither incident at Alito's homes merited his recusal, wrote the justice, who has rejected calls from Democrats in the past to recuse on other issues.
“I am confident that a reasonable person who is not motivated by political or ideological considerations or a desire to affect the outcome of Supreme Court cases would conclude that the events ... do not meet the applicable standard for recusal,” he wrote. “I am therefore required to reject your request.”
Supreme Court justices decide for themselves whether to sit out a case and the only potential consequence for refusing to step aside is impeachment by the House of Representatives and removal from office by the Senate. That has never happened in American history.
Trump, who was in New York while jurors deliberated in his hush money criminal trial, congratulated Alito for “showing the INTELLIGENCE, COURAGE, and ‘GUTS’” in refusing to step aside. “All U.S. Judges, Justices, and Leaders should have such GRIT,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
Some Senate Republicans also quickly took to social media Wednesday to praise Alito for staying involved in the cases.
The court is considering two major cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by a mob of Trump supporters on the Capitol, including charges faced by the rioters and whether Trump has immunity from prosecution on election interference charges.
The New York Times reported that an inverted American flag was seen at Alito’s home in Alexandria, Virginia, less than two weeks after the attack on the Capitol. The paper also reported that an “Appeal to Heaven” flag was flown outside the justice’s beach home in New Jersey last summer.
The “Appeal to Heaven” flag has in recent years come to symbolize sympathies with the Christian nationalist movement and the false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump. According to Americanflags.com, the pine tree on the flag symbolized strength and resilience in the New England colonies while the words “Appeal to Heaven” stemmed from the belief that God would deliver the colonists from tyranny.
An upside-down American flag has come to be a symbol associated with Trump’s bogus fraud claims. Dozens of the pro-Trump rioters were carrying similarly inverted flags and chanting slogans like “Stop the Steal” on Jan. 6, 2021. The U.S. Flag Code states that the American flag is not to be flown upside down “except as a signal of dire distress in instance of extreme danger to life or property.” The inverted flag has been used as a protest symbol on both the left and the right on a range of issues over the decades.
Alito said he was unaware that the upside-down flag was flying above his house until it was called to his attention. “As soon as I saw it, I asked my wife to take it down, but for several days, she refused,” he wrote in nearly identical letters to Democrats in the House and the Senate.
He had previously explained to the newspaper that his wife put up the flag as part of a nasty neighborhood dispute.
The flag at his beach house was also hoisted by his wife, Alito wrote, noting that the house is in her name and was bought with money she inherited from her parents.
“My wife is fond of flying flags. I am not,” he wrote.
Alito said he was unfamiliar with the “Appeal to Heaven” flag when it was flown, but he noted it dates back to the American Revolution. “I was not aware of any connection between this historic flag and the 'Stop the Steal Movement' and neither was my wife,” Alito wrote.
He said Martha-Ann Alito did not fly that flag to associate herself with the rioters or the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which Trump, a Republican, lost to Joe Biden, a Democrat.
Calling her an independently-minded private citizen, Alito wrote, “She makes her own decisions and I honor her right to do so.”
Democrats in the House and the Senate sent a total of three letters last week to Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts seeking Alito's disqualification from the cases. Senators asked for a meeting with Roberts.
Alito said it was better that he respond directly.
Judicial ethics codes focus on the need for judges to be independent, avoiding political statements or opinions on matters they could be called on to decide. The Supreme Court had long gone without its own code of ethics, but it adopted one in November 2023 in the face of sustained criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices.
The code lacks a means of enforcement, though, and the Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation last year that would set stricter standards. But Republicans have been staunchly opposed to any efforts to tell the court what to do.
it tracks. this mf is not even trying to hide the fact that he is all in the tank for trump.
court needs to be expanded to 13 immediately. nullify this crap once and for all.
Yup, if the shoe was on the other foot the GOP would have forced it through already. Dems just keep hoping the GOP folks get a conscious and do the right thing. They won't. It's time to stack the court.
Alito rejects calls to quit Supreme Court cases on Trump and Jan. 6 because of flag controversies
By MARK SHERMAN
1 hour ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Samuel Alito is rejecting calls to step aside from Supreme Court cases involving former President Donald Trump and Jan. 6 defendants because of the controversy over flags that flew over his homes.
In letters to members of Congress on Wednesday, Alito said his wife, Martha-Ann, was responsible for flying an upside-down flag over his home in 2021 and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag at his New Jersey beach house last year. Both flags were like those carried by rioters who violently stormed the Capitol in January 2021 while echoing Trump’s false claims of election fraud.
Neither incident at Alito's homes merited his recusal, wrote the justice, who has rejected calls from Democrats in the past to recuse on other issues.
“I am confident that a reasonable person who is not motivated by political or ideological considerations or a desire to affect the outcome of Supreme Court cases would conclude that the events ... do not meet the applicable standard for recusal,” he wrote. “I am therefore required to reject your request.”
Supreme Court justices decide for themselves whether to sit out a case and the only potential consequence for refusing to step aside is impeachment by the House of Representatives and removal from office by the Senate. That has never happened in American history.
Trump, who was in New York while jurors deliberated in his hush money criminal trial, congratulated Alito for “showing the INTELLIGENCE, COURAGE, and ‘GUTS’” in refusing to step aside. “All U.S. Judges, Justices, and Leaders should have such GRIT,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
Some Senate Republicans also quickly took to social media Wednesday to praise Alito for staying involved in the cases.
The court is considering two major cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by a mob of Trump supporters on the Capitol, including charges faced by the rioters and whether Trump has immunity from prosecution on election interference charges.
The New York Times reported that an inverted American flag was seen at Alito’s home in Alexandria, Virginia, less than two weeks after the attack on the Capitol. The paper also reported that an “Appeal to Heaven” flag was flown outside the justice’s beach home in New Jersey last summer.
The “Appeal to Heaven” flag has in recent years come to symbolize sympathies with the Christian nationalist movement and the false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump. According to Americanflags.com, the pine tree on the flag symbolized strength and resilience in the New England colonies while the words “Appeal to Heaven” stemmed from the belief that God would deliver the colonists from tyranny.
An upside-down American flag has come to be a symbol associated with Trump’s bogus fraud claims. Dozens of the pro-Trump rioters were carrying similarly inverted flags and chanting slogans like “Stop the Steal” on Jan. 6, 2021. The U.S. Flag Code states that the American flag is not to be flown upside down “except as a signal of dire distress in instance of extreme danger to life or property.” The inverted flag has been used as a protest symbol on both the left and the right on a range of issues over the decades.
Alito said he was unaware that the upside-down flag was flying above his house until it was called to his attention. “As soon as I saw it, I asked my wife to take it down, but for several days, she refused,” he wrote in nearly identical letters to Democrats in the House and the Senate.
He had previously explained to the newspaper that his wife put up the flag as part of a nasty neighborhood dispute.
The flag at his beach house was also hoisted by his wife, Alito wrote, noting that the house is in her name and was bought with money she inherited from her parents.
“My wife is fond of flying flags. I am not,” he wrote.
Alito said he was unfamiliar with the “Appeal to Heaven” flag when it was flown, but he noted it dates back to the American Revolution. “I was not aware of any connection between this historic flag and the 'Stop the Steal Movement' and neither was my wife,” Alito wrote.
He said Martha-Ann Alito did not fly that flag to associate herself with the rioters or the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which Trump, a Republican, lost to Joe Biden, a Democrat.
Calling her an independently-minded private citizen, Alito wrote, “She makes her own decisions and I honor her right to do so.”
Democrats in the House and the Senate sent a total of three letters last week to Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts seeking Alito's disqualification from the cases. Senators asked for a meeting with Roberts.
Alito said it was better that he respond directly.
Judicial ethics codes focus on the need for judges to be independent, avoiding political statements or opinions on matters they could be called on to decide. The Supreme Court had long gone without its own code of ethics, but it adopted one in November 2023 in the face of sustained criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices.
The code lacks a means of enforcement, though, and the Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation last year that would set stricter standards. But Republicans have been staunchly opposed to any efforts to tell the court what to do.
it tracks. this mf is not even trying to hide the fact that he is all in the tank for trump.
court needs to be expanded to 13 immediately. nullify this crap once and for all.
Yup, if the shoe was on the other foot the GOP would have forced it through already. Dems just keep hoping the GOP folks get a conscious and do the right thing. They won't. It's time to stack the court.
i would not call it stacking the court. there are 13 districts and only 9 justices. add a supreme court justice to the remaining 4 districts and base the appointments on political ideology of the district. if the district is heavily republican, appoint a conservative. if heavily democratic, appoint a liberal. though at this time i would appoint 4 moderates to try to nullify the hyper partisan stranglehold the republicans have on the court.
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.- Hemingway
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 36,321
Ted Kennedy Warned Us About Samuel Alito. He Was Ignored.
The
Supreme Court justice’s flag controversy should come as no surprise to
anyone who paid attention to his nomination hearings in 2006.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Samuel Alito met with senators, including Ted Kennedy, after his nomination to the Supreme Court in 2005.
Supreme Court Justice
Samuel Alito is in distress—or at least, he should be.
His troubles began two
weeks ago, when TheNew York Times reported
that an upside-down American flag was spotted flying at his Virginia home not
long after the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. (Though the
upside-down flag originally was flown by sailors centuries ago to indicate
distress, it has long been a political symbol in the United States,
used most recently by Donald Trump supporters who claim the 2020
election was
stolen.) And Alito’s troubles grew last week when the Timesreported
that another “provocative” flag—one carried by January 6 rioters—flew at his
vacation home in New Jersey last summer.
Commentators expressed
alarm that a Supreme Court justice would willfully, or through incredible
ignorance, associate with an authoritarian movement that has trampled on the Constitution
that he took an oath to uphold. Many prominent Democrats, including Representative Hakeem Jeffries, called on Alito to recuse himself from
all forthcoming cases involving Trump and the attempted coup in 2021.
But Alito won’t recuse
himself—and his brazen display of disloyalty to American democracy should
surprise no one who recalls how he landed on the Supreme Court.
Alito’s hard-right ideology,
and his shameless lack of ethics, were obvious when he was nominated by
President George W. Bush in 2005. A few Democratic senators sounded the siren,
but the mainstream media, even its so-called “liberal” mainstays, largely
ignored the warnings, unwittingly cooperating with an elite, right-wing
operation to install a dishonest, partisan extremist on the highest court of
the country.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
my understanding, that specific flag dates to colonial times. considered revolutionary against the king.
upside down american flag has legitimate uses in specific circumstances.
2020 election was neither of those.
It's just a historical flag like the Gadsden Flag and many others. Not surprising it would be flying many places. One can not like a flag but all this shit about it being "co-opted" is quite obviously a massive reach.
my understanding, that specific flag dates to colonial times. considered revolutionary against the king.
upside down american flag has legitimate uses in specific circumstances.
2020 election was neither of those.
It's just a historical flag like the Gadsden Flag and many others. Not surprising it would be flying many places. One can not like a flag but all this shit about it being "co-opted" is quite obviously a massive reach.
oh. so by your logic, the tea party meant nothing by the gadsden flag. supremecists mean nothing flying Lee's flag. all the maga fucks mean nothing by the myriad historical flags flying along side fuckstick flags.
flags are symbols. symbols are meant to convey a message. relatively few symbols convey more than one meaning.
am curious to know when the Alito's flew those flags before and in the manner they were flown.
not to mention, the story told seems to be falling apart daily.....
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
my understanding, that specific flag dates to colonial times. considered revolutionary against the king.
upside down american flag has legitimate uses in specific circumstances.
2020 election was neither of those.
It's just a historical flag like the Gadsden Flag and many others. Not surprising it would be flying many places. One can not like a flag but all this shit about it being "co-opted" is quite obviously a massive reach.
the "DoN't StEp On SnEk" flag tells me that the person flying it is a moron.
clowns around here have an american flag flying with the gadsden flag underneath it. if the american government is oppressing that person somehow, shouldn't the gadsden be at the top of the flagpole?
just stupid.
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.- Hemingway
They won’t even discuss it? Time for Dems in Congress to either cut SCOTUS’s budget or realign it to give dem appointees more resources, make passing oversight legislation a campaign issue or Brandon to appoint 2 new justices to negate the two known compromised justices, particularly in light of Rigalito refusing to recuse himself and his history of not doing so in the past.
Expect some future SCOTUS ruling that states’ rights as it relates to prosecuting a POTUS candidate and only the state governor can grant a pardon is no state right at all and it can be heard in federal court and a POTUS or a close family member can issue a pardon.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 36,321
https://wapo.st/4egjwCS
No paywall
“When confronted with this story, Justice Alito ran to a notoriously corrupt infotainment network to construct his alibi. He then testified to a version of events that turns out to be wildly inaccurate,” Jonathan V. Last, editor of the Bulwark, aptly put it. “In so doing, Alito has behaved not like a responsible, sober jurist, but a dime-store political hack.”
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Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Friday formally disclosed a 2019 trip to Indonesia paid for by GOP megadonor Harlan Crow, a vacation that was at the center of the controversy over his travel.
The trip to Bali was the focus of the original report in ProPublica last year that triggered months of headlines about posh travel accepted by justices. Though the news organization’s reporting raised awareness of the trip, Thomas did not formally disclose it on his previous reports.
Thomas acknowledges more travel paid for by Harlan Crow. Colleagues report six-figure book payments
By MARK SHERMAN and LINDSAY WHITEHURST
2 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Clarence Thomas on Friday belatedly acknowledged more travel paid by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow, while several colleagues reported six-figure payments as part of book deals.
Thomas, who has faced criticism for failing to report luxury trips paid for by Crow and others over many years, said in his annual financial disclosure that, in 2019, Crow paid for a hotel room in Bali, Indonesia, for a single night, and food and lodging at a private club in Sonoma County, California. He did not report any travel paid by others last year.
The disclosure on Indonesia is curious for what it omits: the rest of the trip. ProPublica reported last year that Thomas flew to Indonesia on Crow’s private jet and then boarded his superyacht for an islands tour, one of many trips Crow has given to Thomas and his wife, Ginni, over the years.
Another justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson, reported eye-popping numbers, a nearly $900,000 advance for her upcoming memoir, and attention-grabbing gifts, four tickets to a Beyoncé concert valued at $3,700 from the singer herself.
Jackson was one of four Supreme Court justices who reported sizable income from book deals. Justice Brett Kavanaugh reported being paid $340,000 by the conservative Regnery Publishing company. The company was sold and the book is to be published by an imprint at Hachette Book Group, according to Axios, which also reported this week that Kavanaugh's book will deal with his contentious confirmation hearing that included allegations of sexual misconduct, which he has denied. The court confirmed Friday that the justice is writing a legal memoir.
Justices Neil Gorsuch and Sonia Sotomayor reported royalty income of $250,000 and nearly $90,000, respectively.
In their day jobs, the justices are being paid $298,500 this year, except for Chief Justice John Roberts, who earns $312,200.
The only justice whose report was not available Friday is Samuel Alito, who received an extension for up to 90 days, as he does most years. The justice has separately been under scrutiny over flags that flew outside homes he owned. He has said they were raised by his wife.
Jackson, the first Black woman on the nation's highest court, signed a book contract soon after taking her seat in 2022. The book, “Lovely One,” is to be published in September.
The total value of her book deal has not been publicly disclosed, but it is expected to rival if not exceed what Sotomayor was paid for her memoir, “My Beloved World,” more than $3 million.
Among the current justices, only Roberts, Alito and Justice Elena Kagan have so far not cut book deals. Thomas received a $1.5 million advance, stunning at the time, for his 2007 book, “My Grandfather's Son.” Justice Amy Coney Barrett in 2022 reported receiving $425,000 for a yet-to-be-released book, part of a reported $2 million deal she signed soon after joining the court in 2020.
The disclosures paint a partial picture of the justices' finances, as they are not required to reveal the value of their homes or, for those who are married, their spouses' salary.
The justices adopted an ethics code in November, though it lacks a means of enforcement. The code treats travel, food and lodging as expenses rather than gifts, for which monetary values must be reported. Justices aren't required to attach a value to expenses.
In March, the federal judiciary began requiring judges to disclose travel-related gifts and their values — rather than reporting such gifts as reimbursements. The justices say they generally abide by the same rules, but Thomas did not disclose the cost of the Bali hotel.
Some Democratic lawmakers are continuing to press legislation that would require the court to adopt a binding code of conduct and provide for investigations of alleged violations. But the prospect for such legislation is considered remote in a closely divided Congress.
Only two justices reported receiving gifts last year. Thomas said he was given two photo albums worth $2,000 by Terrence Giroux and his wife. Giroux is the executive director emeritus of the Horatio Alger Association.
Jackson received artwork for her Supreme Court office worth $12,500. And then there were the Beyoncé tickets, worth more than $900 a pop. Beyoncé performed two concerts in the Washington area in August 2023, though Jackson's disclosure does not say when or where the tickets were for.
“Justice Jackson is Crazy in Love with Beyonce’s music,” Supreme Court spokeswoman Patricia McCabe said, invoking a Beyoncé song. “Who isn’t?”
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 36,321
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Sen.
Lindsey Graham, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, plans to
block an effort by Senate Democrats to unanimously pass a Supreme Court
ethics bill Wednesday on the Senate floor.
“I will object,” Graham, R-S.C., told NBC News.
Senate
Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who chairs the Judiciary Committee,
said earlier Tuesday that he would make a unanimous consent request to
pass Supreme Court ethics legislation that the panel advanced last July.
Graham's objection means the bill won't be able to move forward, because any senator can block a request.
It
isn't clear whether the measure will come up for a vote under the
normal process, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said
he’s considering it.
Even before Graham made his
comments, Democrats doubted the legislation would advance. “I think I
know the outcome, but we’re going to go through the exercise to make
sure that both parties are in the record,” Durbin told reporters Tuesday
afternoon.
The
Democratic-led Judiciary Committee advanced the Supreme Court Ethics,
Recusal, and Transparency Act on a party-line vote nearly a year ago,
but it can't break a filibuster on the Senate floor without 60 votes.
Democrats have 51 members, and no Republican is on board with the bill.
In
a news release, Democrats said the vote follows "a myriad of apparent
ethical lapses by Supreme Court justices, which demonstrate the need for
ethics reform."
Justice
Clarence Thomas reported a pair of trips in 2019 with billionaire
friend Harlan Crow to Bali and to the private Bohemian Grove club in
California in his annual financial disclosure report, which was released last week. ProPublica reported on Thomas'
and other justices' previously undisclosed lavish travel in a series of
stories last year that raised questions about the court’s ethics.
The
bill would give the court 180 days to adopt and publish a code of
conduct, allowing the public to submit ethics complaints that would then
be reviewed by a randomly selected panel of lower-court judges. It
would also establish new rules for disclosing gifts and travel.
The legislation would also require justices to publicly explain any decisions to recuse from cases.
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you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
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Seems like the IRS ought to be looking into this as well. For all of the gifts. With back taxes, interest and penalties due. Hey, but Hunter’s laptop and lying on his federal firearms form, amiright?
New documents show unreported trips by Justice Clarence Thomas
Justice Clarence Thomas took three previously unreported trips paid for by conservative Texas billionaire Harlan Crow, according to documents released by the Senate Judiciary Committee
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas took three previously unreported trips paid for by conservative Texas billionaire Harlan Crow, according to new documents released by the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday.
Details of the private jet flights between 2017 and 2021 were obtained as part of an investigation the committee has been conducting into reports of lavish undisclosed travel and perks provided to justices by Crow and other wealthy benefactors that have sparked calls for reform.
Crow released the information after the committee issued a subpoena for him and conservative activist, Leonard Leo, to provide information to the body last November. The subpoenas have never been enforced.
Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), chair of the committee, said the documents provided necessary transparency and the trips should have been reported on financial disclosures.
“The Senate Judiciary Committee’s ongoing investigation into the Supreme Court’s ethical crisis is producing new information — like what we’ve revealed today — and makes it crystal clear that the highest court needs an enforceable code of conduct, because its members continue to choose not to meet the moment,” Durbin said in a statement.
Crow said in a statement that he had reached an agreement with the Senate Judiciary Committee to provide information going back seven years.
Thomas’s unreported flights include the following:
A May 2017 private jet trip from St. Louis, Mo., to Kalispell, MT, and a return flight to Dallas, TX.
A March 2019 private jet trip from Washington, D.C., to Savannah, GA, and back.
A June 2021 private jet trip from Washington, DC, to San Jose, Calif., and back.
The documents did not list the cost of the trips or why Thomas took them.
Elliot S. Berke, an attorney for Justice Clarence Thomas, said in a statement: “The information that Harlan Crow provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee fell under the ‘personal hospitality exemption’ and was not required to be disclosed by Justice Thomas.”
Thomas has complied with new disclosure requirements, Berke said.
The disclosures come after Thomas revealed this month hat he failed to report two 2019 trips to California and Indonesia that were also paid for by Crow. Thomas did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
On Wednesday, Senate Democrats attempted to expedite passage of a bill that would provide a binding code of ethics for the Supreme Court, but the effort was scuttled by Republicans who said the legislation’s true aim was to undermine a conservative court whose rulings Democrats don’t like.
Leo said in a statement last November after the subpoenas were issued that he “will not cooperate with this unlawful campaign of political retribution.” Durbin’s office said the Judiciary Committee’s broader investigation of Supreme Court ethics is ongoing.
The committee probe was prompted by reports in ProPublica and other media outlets that Thomas and Justice Samuel A. Alito took expensive trips without disclosing them in recent years. Crow also paid tuition for a Thomas relative and purchased the home of the justice’s mother.
“It is astonishing that at this late date, there continue to be revelations of gifts to Justice Thomas that he has never disclosed,” said Steven Lubet, a professor and judicial ethics expert at Northwestern University Law School.
During Justice Samuel Alito’s
confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court in January 2006, he
committed to holding himself to an even higher standard for recusals
than the judicial code of conduct required. He also represented himself
as an impartial judge who would have no ideological agenda and
repeatedly asserted that the president is not above the law.
As the Supreme Court considers high
stakes cases about presidential immunity and accountability for the
January 6th insurrection, Alito has attracted scrutiny for failing to
recuse from those cases despite flying flags associated with the insurrection and the “Stop the Steal” movement at his houses. Despite calls from members of Congress, CREW and several other groups to recuse, Alito has refused.
Alito’s commitments to impartiality
and abiding by the highest ethical standards during his confirmation
hearings stand at odds with his failure to recuse despite the clear
conflicts at play in cases related to January 6th and the 2020 election.
Play the Video
Recusals
Alito faced scrutiny
for his initial failure to recuse from a case against the financial
company Vanguard while serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Third Circuit, despite holding at least $390,000 in Vanguard funds.
Alito maintained that his failure to recuse was a mistake that he later
remedied, and that ruling in the case did not actually violate judicial
ethics rules.
Alito repeatedly stressed that he
would recuse from cases where the ethics code required him to do so,
despite the broad duty for Supreme Court justices to hear cases. When
asked about the case by Senator Orrin Hatch, Alito said,
“I not only complied with the ethical rules that are binding on Federal
judges—and they’re very strict—but also that I did what I have tried to
do throughout my career as a judge, and that is to go beyond the letter
of the ethics rules and to avoid any situation where there might be an
ethical question raised.”
When pressed further by Senator Russ Feingold, Alito said
he would not commit to recusing from all Vanguard cases going forward,
but, “I will very strictly comply with the ethical obligations that
apply to Supreme Court Justices.”
Later, during a back and forth with Senator Edward Kennedy about his Vanguard mutual fund not being on his recusal list, Alito said: “I am one of those judges that you described who take recusals very, very seriously.”
Immunity
While Alito’s insurrection-related
flags clearly require his recusal from all January 6th related
cases—should he continue to fail to recuse from the Trump immunity case,
his comments during his confirmation hearing may come back to haunt him
if he chooses to side with Trump.
During questioning by Senator Patrick Leahy about whether presidents can authorize the use of torture, Alito said,
“I think the first thing that has to be said is what I said yesterday,
and that is that no person in this country is above the law, and that
includes the president and it includes the Supreme Court.” And when
asked by Senator Chuck Grassley whether he believed that the President
of the United States is above the law and the Constitution, he said: “Nobody in this country is above the law, and that includes the president.”
Impartiality
As a member of the conservative Federalist Society nominated to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, a swing vote
on the Court, Alito faced questions about whether he would be an
ideological justice. During his closing comments on the first day of his
confirmation hearing, Alito said: “A judge can’t have any agenda. A judge can’t have any preferred outcome in any particular case.”
On the second day of his confirmation hearing, Senator Jeff Sessions asked
Alito, “And if you take the definition of activism as an action by a
judge who allows their personal, political, or social, or moral values
to override their commitment to the law, do you believe that a judge who
is conservative can be an activist just as easily as one who is
liberal?” In response, Alito said, “Yes, I do. I don’t think that
activism has anything to do with being a liberal or conservative. It has
to do with not following the proper judicial role. It has to do with a
judge’s substituting his or her own views for what the Constitution
means and for what the laws mean.”
Read More in Investigations
Investigations
Trump has spread conspiracy theories about January 6th more than 175 times on Truth Social
Trump's posts blame entities from the FBI to antifa—but
point to one false narrative: January 6th was someone else’s fault and
ultimately no big deal anyway.
Help CREW hold corrupt politicians accountable.
From Donald Trump to Bob Menendez to Clarence Thomas, it’s clear our democracy needs a serious watchdog and real reform.
Help CREW take on government officials who sacrifice the common good to special interests.
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Comments
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Samuel Alito is rejecting calls to step aside from Supreme Court cases involving former President Donald Trump and Jan. 6 defendants because of the controversy over flags that flew over his homes.
In letters to members of Congress on Wednesday, Alito said his wife, Martha-Ann, was responsible for flying an upside-down flag over his home in 2021 and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag at his New Jersey beach house last year. Both flags were like those carried by rioters who violently stormed the Capitol in January 2021 while echoing Trump’s false claims of election fraud.
Neither incident at Alito's homes merited his recusal, wrote the justice, who has rejected calls from Democrats in the past to recuse on other issues.
“I am confident that a reasonable person who is not motivated by political or ideological considerations or a desire to affect the outcome of Supreme Court cases would conclude that the events ... do not meet the applicable standard for recusal,” he wrote. “I am therefore required to reject your request.”
U.S. SUPREME COURT
The Washington Post said it had the Alito flag story 3 years ago and chose not to publish
Democratic senators request meeting with Chief Justice Roberts over flags flown at Alito's homes
Upside-down flag at Justice Alito's home another blow for Supreme Court under fire
Justice Kavanaugh says unpopular rulings can later become 'fabric of American constitutional law'
Supreme Court justices decide for themselves whether to sit out a case and the only potential consequence for refusing to step aside is impeachment by the House of Representatives and removal from office by the Senate. That has never happened in American history.
Trump, who was in New York while jurors deliberated in his hush money criminal trial, congratulated Alito for “showing the INTELLIGENCE, COURAGE, and ‘GUTS’” in refusing to step aside. “All U.S. Judges, Justices, and Leaders should have such GRIT,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
Some Senate Republicans also quickly took to social media Wednesday to praise Alito for staying involved in the cases.
The court is considering two major cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by a mob of Trump supporters on the Capitol, including charges faced by the rioters and whether Trump has immunity from prosecution on election interference charges.
The New York Times reported that an inverted American flag was seen at Alito’s home in Alexandria, Virginia, less than two weeks after the attack on the Capitol. The paper also reported that an “Appeal to Heaven” flag was flown outside the justice’s beach home in New Jersey last summer.
The “Appeal to Heaven” flag has in recent years come to symbolize sympathies with the Christian nationalist movement and the false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump. According to Americanflags.com, the pine tree on the flag symbolized strength and resilience in the New England colonies while the words “Appeal to Heaven” stemmed from the belief that God would deliver the colonists from tyranny.
An upside-down American flag has come to be a symbol associated with Trump’s bogus fraud claims. Dozens of the pro-Trump rioters were carrying similarly inverted flags and chanting slogans like “Stop the Steal” on Jan. 6, 2021. The U.S. Flag Code states that the American flag is not to be flown upside down “except as a signal of dire distress in instance of extreme danger to life or property.” The inverted flag has been used as a protest symbol on both the left and the right on a range of issues over the decades.
Alito said he was unaware that the upside-down flag was flying above his house until it was called to his attention. “As soon as I saw it, I asked my wife to take it down, but for several days, she refused,” he wrote in nearly identical letters to Democrats in the House and the Senate.
He had previously explained to the newspaper that his wife put up the flag as part of a nasty neighborhood dispute.
The flag at his beach house was also hoisted by his wife, Alito wrote, noting that the house is in her name and was bought with money she inherited from her parents.
“My wife is fond of flying flags. I am not,” he wrote.
Alito said he was unfamiliar with the “Appeal to Heaven” flag when it was flown, but he noted it dates back to the American Revolution. “I was not aware of any connection between this historic flag and the 'Stop the Steal Movement' and neither was my wife,” Alito wrote.
He said Martha-Ann Alito did not fly that flag to associate herself with the rioters or the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which Trump, a Republican, lost to Joe Biden, a Democrat.
Calling her an independently-minded private citizen, Alito wrote, “She makes her own decisions and I honor her right to do so.”
Democrats in the House and the Senate sent a total of three letters last week to Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts seeking Alito's disqualification from the cases. Senators asked for a meeting with Roberts.
Alito said it was better that he respond directly.
Judicial ethics codes focus on the need for judges to be independent, avoiding political statements or opinions on matters they could be called on to decide. The Supreme Court had long gone without its own code of ethics, but it adopted one in November 2023 in the face of sustained criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices.
The code lacks a means of enforcement, though, and the Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation last year that would set stricter standards. But Republicans have been staunchly opposed to any efforts to tell the court what to do.
___
Follow the AP's coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.
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court needs to be expanded to 13 immediately. nullify this crap once and for all.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
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another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Ted Kennedy Warned Us About Samuel Alito. He Was Ignored.
The Supreme Court justice’s flag controversy should come as no surprise to anyone who paid attention to his nomination hearings in 2006.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is in distress—or at least, he should be.
His troubles began two weeks ago, when The New York Times reported that an upside-down American flag was spotted flying at his Virginia home not long after the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. (Though the upside-down flag originally was flown by sailors centuries ago to indicate distress, it has long been a political symbol in the United States, used most recently by Donald Trump supporters who claim the 2020 election was stolen.) And Alito’s troubles grew last week when the Times reported that another “provocative” flag—one carried by January 6 rioters—flew at his vacation home in New Jersey last summer.
Commentators expressed alarm that a Supreme Court justice would willfully, or through incredible ignorance, associate with an authoritarian movement that has trampled on the Constitution that he took an oath to uphold. Many prominent Democrats, including Representative Hakeem Jeffries, called on Alito to recuse himself from all forthcoming cases involving Trump and the attempted coup in 2021.
But Alito won’t recuse himself—and his brazen display of disloyalty to American democracy should surprise no one who recalls how he landed on the Supreme Court.
Alito’s hard-right ideology, and his shameless lack of ethics, were obvious when he was nominated by President George W. Bush in 2005. A few Democratic senators sounded the siren, but the mainstream media, even its so-called “liberal” mainstays, largely ignored the warnings, unwittingly cooperating with an elite, right-wing operation to install a dishonest, partisan extremist on the highest court of the country.
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https://sfist.com/2024/05/29/appeal-to-heaven-flag-part-of-city-collection-for-decades-quietly-removed-from-sfs-civic-center-plaza/
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you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
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Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
clowns around here have an american flag flying with the gadsden flag underneath it. if the american government is oppressing that person somehow, shouldn't the gadsden be at the top of the flagpole?
just stupid.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/30/politics/john-roberts-ethics-alito-flag-supreme-court-durbin/index.html
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
did alito's wife turn the flag upside down yet?
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
can grant a pardon is no state right at all and it can be heard in federal court and a POTUS or a close family member can issue a pardon.
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Friday formally disclosed a 2019 trip to Indonesia paid for by GOP megadonor Harlan Crow, a vacation that was at the center of the controversy over his travel.
The trip to Bali was the focus of the original report in ProPublica last year that triggered months of headlines about posh travel accepted by justices. Though the news organization’s reporting raised awareness of the trip, Thomas did not formally disclose it on his previous reports.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/07/politics/clarence-thomas-harlan-crow-bali/index.html
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Clarence Thomas on Friday belatedly acknowledged more travel paid by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow, while several colleagues reported six-figure payments as part of book deals.
Thomas, who has faced criticism for failing to report luxury trips paid for by Crow and others over many years, said in his annual financial disclosure that, in 2019, Crow paid for a hotel room in Bali, Indonesia, for a single night, and food and lodging at a private club in Sonoma County, California. He did not report any travel paid by others last year.
The disclosure on Indonesia is curious for what it omits: the rest of the trip. ProPublica reported last year that Thomas flew to Indonesia on Crow’s private jet and then boarded his superyacht for an islands tour, one of many trips Crow has given to Thomas and his wife, Ginni, over the years.
Another justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson, reported eye-popping numbers, a nearly $900,000 advance for her upcoming memoir, and attention-grabbing gifts, four tickets to a Beyoncé concert valued at $3,700 from the singer herself.
U.S. SUPREME COURT
Roberts rejects Senate Democrats' request to discuss Supreme Court ethics and Alito flag controversy
The Washington Post said it had the Alito flag story 3 years ago and chose not to publish
Democratic senators request meeting with Chief Justice Roberts over flags flown at Alito's homes
Upside-down flag at Justice Alito's home another blow for Supreme Court under fire
Jackson was one of four Supreme Court justices who reported sizable income from book deals. Justice Brett Kavanaugh reported being paid $340,000 by the conservative Regnery Publishing company. The company was sold and the book is to be published by an imprint at Hachette Book Group, according to Axios, which also reported this week that Kavanaugh's book will deal with his contentious confirmation hearing that included allegations of sexual misconduct, which he has denied. The court confirmed Friday that the justice is writing a legal memoir.
Justices Neil Gorsuch and Sonia Sotomayor reported royalty income of $250,000 and nearly $90,000, respectively.
In their day jobs, the justices are being paid $298,500 this year, except for Chief Justice John Roberts, who earns $312,200.
The only justice whose report was not available Friday is Samuel Alito, who received an extension for up to 90 days, as he does most years. The justice has separately been under scrutiny over flags that flew outside homes he owned. He has said they were raised by his wife.
Jackson, the first Black woman on the nation's highest court, signed a book contract soon after taking her seat in 2022. The book, “Lovely One,” is to be published in September.
The total value of her book deal has not been publicly disclosed, but it is expected to rival if not exceed what Sotomayor was paid for her memoir, “My Beloved World,” more than $3 million.
Among the current justices, only Roberts, Alito and Justice Elena Kagan have so far not cut book deals. Thomas received a $1.5 million advance, stunning at the time, for his 2007 book, “My Grandfather's Son.” Justice Amy Coney Barrett in 2022 reported receiving $425,000 for a yet-to-be-released book, part of a reported $2 million deal she signed soon after joining the court in 2020.
The disclosures paint a partial picture of the justices' finances, as they are not required to reveal the value of their homes or, for those who are married, their spouses' salary.
The justices adopted an ethics code in November, though it lacks a means of enforcement. The code treats travel, food and lodging as expenses rather than gifts, for which monetary values must be reported. Justices aren't required to attach a value to expenses.
In March, the federal judiciary began requiring judges to disclose travel-related gifts and their values — rather than reporting such gifts as reimbursements. The justices say they generally abide by the same rules, but Thomas did not disclose the cost of the Bali hotel.
Some Democratic lawmakers are continuing to press legislation that would require the court to adopt a binding code of conduct and provide for investigations of alleged violations. But the prospect for such legislation is considered remote in a closely divided Congress.
Only two justices reported receiving gifts last year. Thomas said he was given two photo albums worth $2,000 by Terrence Giroux and his wife. Giroux is the executive director emeritus of the Horatio Alger Association.
Jackson received artwork for her Supreme Court office worth $12,500. And then there were the Beyoncé tickets, worth more than $900 a pop. Beyoncé performed two concerts in the Washington area in August 2023, though Jackson's disclosure does not say when or where the tickets were for.
“Justice Jackson is Crazy in Love with Beyonce’s music,” Supreme Court spokeswoman Patricia McCabe said, invoking a Beyoncé song. “Who isn’t?”
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Regarding Thomas, time to look at the issues before the court, how Thomas voted, and whether the old crow benefited in any way.
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Sen. Lindsey Graham says he will block Democrats' effort to unanimously pass Supreme Court ethics bill
Sen. Lindsey Graham, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, plans to block an effort by Senate Democrats to unanimously pass a Supreme Court ethics bill Wednesday on the Senate floor.
“I will object,” Graham, R-S.C., told NBC News.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who chairs the Judiciary Committee, said earlier Tuesday that he would make a unanimous consent request to pass Supreme Court ethics legislation that the panel advanced last July.
Graham's objection means the bill won't be able to move forward, because any senator can block a request.
It isn't clear whether the measure will come up for a vote under the normal process, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he’s considering it.
Even before Graham made his comments, Democrats doubted the legislation would advance. “I think I know the outcome, but we’re going to go through the exercise to make sure that both parties are in the record,” Durbin told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
The Democratic-led Judiciary Committee advanced the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act on a party-line vote nearly a year ago, but it can't break a filibuster on the Senate floor without 60 votes. Democrats have 51 members, and no Republican is on board with the bill.
In a news release, Democrats said the vote follows "a myriad of apparent ethical lapses by Supreme Court justices, which demonstrate the need for ethics reform."
A spokesperson for the Supreme Court didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night.
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Justice Clarence Thomas reported a pair of trips in 2019 with billionaire friend Harlan Crow to Bali and to the private Bohemian Grove club in California in his annual financial disclosure report, which was released last week. ProPublica reported on Thomas' and other justices' previously undisclosed lavish travel in a series of stories last year that raised questions about the court’s ethics.
The bill would give the court 180 days to adopt and publish a code of conduct, allowing the public to submit ethics complaints that would then be reviewed by a randomly selected panel of lower-court judges. It would also establish new rules for disclosing gifts and travel.
The legislation would also require justices to publicly explain any decisions to recuse from cases.
Durbin last month called on Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to recuse himself from a pair of cases tied to the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, after The New York Times reported that an upside-down American flag was displayed outside his home in the days after the riot. Alito declined to step away from those cases.
Zoë Richards is the evening politics reporter for NBC News.
Sahil Kapur is a senior national political reporter for NBC News.
Frank Thorp V is a producer and off-air reporter covering Congress for NBC News, managing coverage of the Senate.
© 2024 NBC UNIVERSAL
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New documents show unreported trips by Justice Clarence Thomas
Justice Clarence Thomas took three previously unreported trips paid for by conservative Texas billionaire Harlan Crow, according to documents released by the Senate Judiciary Committee
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas took three previously unreported trips paid for by conservative Texas billionaire Harlan Crow, according to new documents released by the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday.
Details of the private jet flights between 2017 and 2021 were obtained as part of an investigation the committee has been conducting into reports of lavish undisclosed travel and perks provided to justices by Crow and other wealthy benefactors that have sparked calls for reform.
Crow released the information after the committee issued a subpoena for him and conservative activist, Leonard Leo, to provide information to the body last November. The subpoenas have never been enforced.
Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), chair of the committee, said the documents provided necessary transparency and the trips should have been reported on financial disclosures.
“The Senate Judiciary Committee’s ongoing investigation into the Supreme Court’s ethical crisis is producing new information — like what we’ve revealed today — and makes it crystal clear that the highest court needs an enforceable code of conduct, because its members continue to choose not to meet the moment,” Durbin said in a statement.
Crow said in a statement that he had reached an agreement with the Senate Judiciary Committee to provide information going back seven years.
Thomas’s unreported flights include the following:
The documents did not list the cost of the trips or why Thomas took them.
Elliot S. Berke, an attorney for Justice Clarence Thomas, said in a statement: “The information that Harlan Crow provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee fell under the ‘personal hospitality exemption’ and was not required to be disclosed by Justice Thomas.”
Thomas has complied with new disclosure requirements, Berke said.
The disclosures come after Thomas revealed this month hat he failed to report two 2019 trips to California and Indonesia that were also paid for by Crow. Thomas did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
On Wednesday, Senate Democrats attempted to expedite passage of a bill that would provide a binding code of ethics for the Supreme Court, but the effort was scuttled by Republicans who said the legislation’s true aim was to undermine a conservative court whose rulings Democrats don’t like.
Leo said in a statement last November after the subpoenas were issued that he “will not cooperate with this unlawful campaign of political retribution.” Durbin’s office said the Judiciary Committee’s broader investigation of Supreme Court ethics is ongoing.
The committee probe was prompted by reports in ProPublica and other media outlets that Thomas and Justice Samuel A. Alito took expensive trips without disclosing them in recent years. Crow also paid tuition for a Thomas relative and purchased the home of the justice’s mother.
“It is astonishing that at this late date, there continue to be revelations of gifts to Justice Thomas that he has never disclosed,” said Steven Lubet, a professor and judicial ethics expert at Northwestern University Law School.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/06/13/supreme-court-clarence-thomas-travel/
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https://youtu.be/B6fE2JkvVoo?si=Rf8ioUyR-qvQv646
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What Justice Alito said on ethics and recusal in his confirmation hearings
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