Samuel Alito Refuses To Recuse Himself

(LibertyInsider.org) – Conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was nominated in 2005 by then-President George W. Bush. He has been embroiled in controversy for years, having reportedly taken undisclosed luxury vacations and even been accused of leaking a major case decision to activists before it was made public. Now, he’s under fire over two flags being flown outside his homes — and he recently refused to recuse himself from two cases involving former President Donald Trump.

On Wednesday, May 29, Alito sent letters to Democratic senators and representatives, saying that he was “duty-bound to reject [their] recusal request” because he was unaware of the flags’ meanings. He is referring to the fact that his wife flew the US flag upside down, calling it “an international sign of distress” after an alleged dispute with others in her neighborhood. However, the inverted emblem was carried by protestors at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a political message signaling support for Trump, particularly in the face of his losing the past election.

BREAKING: Supreme Court Justice Alito rejects calls to recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election and Jan. 6. https://t.co/PyrFTbRkY2

— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 29, 2024

Then, there’s the matter of the Alitos’ vacation home bearing the “Appeal to Heaven” flag, which was also carried by US protestors at the January 6 riots. While it dates back to the Revolutionary War, it was resurrected as a symbol of wanting a more Christian government and supporting Trump and his claims.

Democrats say Alito is biased and would not be able to rule on the cases objectively. The SCOTUS justice says his wife, who made the decisions, “has the legal right to use the property as she sees fit” and that his impartiality couldn’t be called into question unless someone was motivated by “political or ideological considerations” or wanting to “affect the outcome of Supreme Court cases.”

Democrats, particularly Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (IL), have used not only Alito’s but other justices’ actions to demand “an enforceable code of conduct.”