SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States)

mickeyrat

mickeyrat

https://apnews.com/article/alito-flag-supreme-court-roberts-justice-senate-e53c1d1fef7b81f9dc87fa31b1622c4c   Alito rejects calls to quit Supreme Court cases on Trump and Jan. 6 because of flag controversies

 

VA State Wire NJ State Wire DC Wire

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.”

---

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.

gimmesometruth27

mickeyrat said:

https://apnews.com/article/alito-flag-supreme-court-roberts-justice-senate-e53c1d1fef7b81f9dc87fa31b1622c4c   Alito rejects calls to quit Supreme Court cases on Trump and Jan. 6 because of flag controversies

 

VA State Wire NJ State Wire DC Wire

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.”

---

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.

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.

mickeyrat

gimmesometruth27 said:

mickeyrat said:

https://apnews.com/article/alito-flag-supreme-court-roberts-justice-senate-e53c1d1fef7b81f9dc87fa31b1622c4c   Alito rejects calls to quit Supreme Court cases on Trump and Jan. 6 because of flag controversies

 

VA State Wire NJ State Wire DC Wire

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.”

---

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.

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.

believe this requires an amendment to implement. 

pjhawks

gimmesometruth27 said:

mickeyrat said:

https://apnews.com/article/alito-flag-supreme-court-roberts-justice-senate-e53c1d1fef7b81f9dc87fa31b1622c4c   Alito rejects calls to quit Supreme Court cases on Trump and Jan. 6 because of flag controversies

 

VA State Wire NJ State Wire DC Wire

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.”

---

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.

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.

gimmesometruth27

pjhawks said:

gimmesometruth27 said:

mickeyrat said:

https://apnews.com/article/alito-flag-supreme-court-roberts-justice-senate-e53c1d1fef7b81f9dc87fa31b1622c4c   Alito rejects calls to quit Supreme Court cases on Trump and Jan. 6 because of flag controversies

 

VA State Wire NJ State Wire DC Wire

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.”

---

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.

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.

mickeyrat

https://newrepublic.com/article/181959/ted-kennedy-samuel-alito-nomination-warning

 

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 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.

continues.....

pjl44

Lol. I'll tell ya some of you will fall for any manufactured controversy fed to ya.

https://sfist.com/2024/05/29/appeal-to-heaven-flag-part-of-city-collection-for-decades-quietly-removed-from-sfs-civic-center-plaza/

mickeyrat

pjl44 said:

Lol. I'll tell ya some of you will fall for any manufactured controversy fed to ya.

https://sfist.com/2024/05/29/appeal-to-heaven-flag-part-of-city-collection-for-decades-quietly-removed-from-sfs-civic-center-plaza/

its about how its used now.

 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.

pjl44

https://apnews.com/article/washington-post-alito-flag-missed-story-d7cfd2e8f5271fc8987ea2b0206bb7bb

pjl44

mickeyrat said:

pjl44 said:

Lol. I'll tell ya some of you will fall for any manufactured controversy fed to ya.

https://sfist.com/2024/05/29/appeal-to-heaven-flag-part-of-city-collection-for-decades-quietly-removed-from-sfs-civic-center-plaza/

its about how its used now.

 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.

pjl44

Welp he's flying the flag time to pack the court lol

mickeyrat

pjl44 said:

mickeyrat said:

pjl44 said:

Lol. I'll tell ya some of you will fall for any manufactured controversy fed to ya.

https://sfist.com/2024/05/29/appeal-to-heaven-flag-part-of-city-collection-for-decades-quietly-removed-from-sfs-civic-center-plaza/

its about how its used now.

 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.....

gimmesometruth27

pjl44 said:

mickeyrat said:

pjl44 said:

Lol. I'll tell ya some of you will fall for any manufactured controversy fed to ya.

https://sfist.com/2024/05/29/appeal-to-heaven-flag-part-of-city-collection-for-decades-quietly-removed-from-sfs-civic-center-plaza/

its about how its used now.

 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.

Halifax2TheMax

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.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/30/politics/john-roberts-ethics-alito-flag-supreme-court-durbin/index.html

gimmesometruth27

trump guilty on all 34 counts.

did alito's wife turn the flag upside down yet?

Halifax2TheMax

gimmesometruth27 said:

trump guilty on all 34 counts.

did alito's wife turn the flag upside down yet?

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. 

mickeyrat

https://www.threads.net/@noblesjoseph/post/C7rVQsZgYhC/?xmt=AQGzFNfeUjFFgQd6PYODIXaHXGbVKyaimHOrZelWmrT0yA

mickeyrat

https://www.threads.net/@theandus/post/C7uHxOiRcrm/?xmt=AQGzQvD1G0_U_aIaEaJXW1iZkjzkTGxXVFhDf0OjmEdDmw

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.”

Halifax2TheMax

This fucking guy.

CNN — 

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