The New York Times reports that rioters posted a second flag outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, resembling the one they carried during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol.
Last summer, an “Appeal to Heaven” banner flew outside Alito’s seaside vacation house. Less than two weeks after the horrific attack on the Capitol, rioters observed an inverted American flag—another sign—at Alito’s home outside Washington.
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Last week, news of the upside-down American flag prompted outrage, with high-ranking Democrats urging Alito to recuse himself from cases involving former President Donald Trump.
Alito and the court refrained from commenting on the origins of the “Appeal to Heaven” flag and its intended meaning. He earlier stated that his wife flew the inverted American flag during a dispute with neighbors and that he had no involvement in it.
Three images obtained by the Times show the white flag flying at the Alito Beach estate in New Jersey with a green pine tree. Alito took the photographs on several days between July and September 2023, but it was unclear how long they lasted or how much time he spent there.
The flag originated during the Revolutionary War, but in recent years it has become connected with Christian nationalism and support for Trump. Trump’s “Stop the Steal” movement and false accusations of electoral fraud inspired rioters to carry the flag.
Republicans in Congress and state politicians have also flown the flag. House Speaker Mike Johnson hung it in his office. A spokeswoman said the speaker enjoys its rich history and received the flag from a clergyman who served as the House’s guest chaplain.
In the meantime, Alito is involved in two current Supreme Court issues related to Jan. 6: whether Trump has immunity from prosecution for his efforts to reverse the 2020 election results, and whether a specific obstruction allegation can be used against rioters. He also participated in the court’s majority decision that states cannot remove Trump from the ballot under the “insurrection clause” inserted into the Constitution after the Civil War.
The second signal sparked increased calls for Alito to recuse himself from Trump-related cases. “At this point, it is difficult to make a credible case for Alito’s neutrality. It may and should be questioned. As a result, he cannot sit on matters involving the 2020 election or the insurrection he appears to have encouraged,” said Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The firm represented Colorado voters in the “insurrection clause” case before the Supreme Court, which sought to remove Trump from the ballot.
There has been no hint that Alito will step aside from the cases.
Another conservative justice, Clarence Thomas, has rebuffed requests to recuse himself from 2020 election issues because his wife, Virginia Thomas, supports efforts to overturn Trump’s loss to President Joe Biden.
Meanwhile, public faith in the Supreme Court has dropped to its lowest level in at least 50 years.
Judicial ethics standards underscore the importance of judges maintaining impartiality and abstaining from political statements or voicing opinions on matters they could potentially handle. The Supreme Court had long lacked its own code of ethics, but it approved one in November 2023 in response to widespread criticism of unreported trips and gifts from affluent patrons to several justices. However, the code lacks enforcement mechanisms.
