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☆ Opinion | Justice Alito’s Blame-the-Wife Defense
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To the Editor:Re “We’re Suddenly Living in a ‘My Wife Did It’ Moment,” by Gail Collins and Bret Stephens (The Conversation, May 21):Mr. Stephens goes on at length about why Justice Samuel Alito’s wife has “the constitutional right” to express a “Stop the Steal” opinion by hanging a flag upside-down in the Alitos’ front yard, as well as “a moral right” to express her opinion independently of her Supreme Court justice husband. Then, when Ms. Collins challenges the propriety of a political symbol at the home of a justice who might someday have to decide on that very election’s validity, Mr. Stephens demurs with a mild “OK.”Mr. Stephens’s argument is deeply disturbing. Our Supreme Court justices are expected to maintain not just the reality of no conflicts of interest that might influence their rulings, but also the “appearance” of no such conflicts. To neighbors and now the nation, the flag made it appear that Justice Alito believes Donald Trump’s lies about a stolen election, and thus would rule in favor of Mr. Trump in related cases. Blaming his wife makes a sham of his own responsibility not to appear political.

Persons: Gail Collins, Bret Stephens, Stephens, Samuel Alito’s, Collins, Mr, Alito, Donald Trump’s, Trump Organizations: Mr

☆ New York Times: Another controversial flag spotted outside an Alito property
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( John Fritze | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Citing photographs and interviews with neighbors, the Times reports that the “Appeal to Heaven” flag was seen on display at his property last summer. It’s the second revelation in as many weeks about a controversial display outside Alito’s property. Like the inverted US flag, the Appeal to Heaven flag – also known as the Pine Tree flag – was seen during the attack on the Capitol. House Speaker Mike Johnson faced blowback for displaying the same flag outside his office last year before assuming the leadership post. An "Appeal to Heaven" flag is seen outside Speaker Mike Johnson's personal office in the Cannon House Office Buiding on Wednesday, May 22.

Persons: Samuel Alito’s, Donald Trump, ”, Alito, Shay Horse, –, Mike Johnson, Johnson, “, George Washington’s, I’ve, ” Johnson, Mike, Trump, Texas Sen, Ted Cruz, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Jim Jordan, Judge Thomas –, Judge Kavanaugh, ” Jordan, CNN’s Manu Raju, CNN’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, Morgan Rimmer, Manu Raju Organizations: CNN, Capitol, New York Times, Times, Trump, Capitol ., Cannon, Texas, ” Locations: New Jersey, Virginia, Washington , DC

☆ Opinion | Justice Alito’s Blame-the-Wife Defense Never Goes Out of Style
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Jennifer Weiner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In seeking to shift their own controversies onto their marital partners, Justice Samuel Alito and Senator Robert Menendez joined a tradition that extends across party lines and stretches back through the centuries. First up: Justice Alito, who was presented with photographs of an upside-down flag flying in front of his house. Justice Alito bravely, manfully, clearly announced to the world that his wife did it. “I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag,” Justice Alito told The Times, in an emailed statement. “It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs.”

Persons: Samuel Alito, Robert Menendez, we’d, Justice Alito, Biden’s, manfully, “, Alito, ” Organizations: Capitol, ”, Times Locations: Washington

☆ Justice Samuel Alito blames upside-down American flag on his wife and a flap with neighbors
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-17 | by ( John Fritze | Holmes Lybrand | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Alito said that a neighbor had posted a sign saying “F**k Trump” near a school bus stop and then a sign attacking his wife, Martha-Ann Alito. The upside-down flag was a symbol for former President Donald Trump’s supporters who falsely claimed widespread fraud in the presidential election. A spokeswoman for the Supreme Court has not respond to CNN’s requests for comment. “Flying an upside-down American flag — a symbol of the so-called ‘Stop the Steal’ movement — clearly creates the appearance of bias,” Durbin said in a statement. Renewed calls for ethics reformThe Supreme Court is weighing major cases this term tied to the 2020 election and the attack on the Capitol.

Persons: Samuel Alito, Alito, Martha, Ann Alito, Fox, Donald Trump’s, Tim Walz, “ I’m, Joe Biden’s, “, ”, “ It’s, Trump, Hank Johnson, Clarence Thomas, ” MAGA, Thomas, ” Johnson, ” Sen, Dick Durbin, ” Durbin, Sen, Tom Cotton, Carolina Sen, Lindsey Graham, Jack Smith’s, John Roberts, Sheldon Whitehouse, ” Whitehouse, Roe, Wade, Renee Knake Jefferson, ” Jefferson Organizations: CNN, Fox News, Trump, Democratic, Capitol, Minnesota Gov, New York Times, Times, Gadsden, Georgia Democrat, Committee, Illinois Democrat, Republicans, Arkansas Republican, Republican, Congress, Supreme, Rhode, Rhode Island Democrat, ”, University of Houston Law Center Locations: Minnesota, Alexandria , Virginia, Washington, DC, Georgia, House, Arkansas, ”, Carolina, Rhode Island

☆ Display at Alito’s Home Renews Questions of Supreme Court’s Impartiality
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-17 | by ( Jodi Kantor | Abbie Vansickle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In coming weeks, the Supreme Court is expected to issue two key decisions involving the storming of the Capitol on that day. The cases will shape the degree to which former President Donald J. Trump can be held accountable for his efforts to subvert the election. “These cases were always going to be seen through an ideological and partisan lens,” Michael C. Dorf, a Cornell law professor and former clerk to Justice Anthony Kennedy, said in an interview. An upside-down flag, a popular symbol with Trump supporters contesting President Biden’s victory, appeared on Justice Alito’s front lawn in January 2021, The New York Times reported based on photographs and interviews with neighbors. It hung on the Alitos’ flagpole days before the inauguration, a little over a week after the Capitol riot and while the Supreme Court was considering taking up an election case.

Persons: Samuel A, Alito Jr, Donald J, Trump, Michael C, Anthony Kennedy, “, you’ve, Clarence Thomas’s, Virginia Thomas, Biden’s Organizations: Capitol, Cornell, Republican Party, Trump, The New York Times

☆ What the Supreme Court Ruling Means for Other Consumer Bureau Actions
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Emily Flitter | Stacy Cowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But the ruling falls far short of eliminating the bureau’s legal obstacles. Immediately after the ruling was announced, lawyers for the bureau, which is charged with preventing consumer abuse in the financial industry, began preparing dozens of legal filings to try to unfreeze its activities. Among them are requests to federal judges to end stays on new rules and on subpoenas to financial firms. While the Supreme Court’s ruling should resolve a few of the stays, the bureau will still struggle to overcome other roadblocks. He noted that Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.’s dissent cited three recent consumer bureau actions that, in Justice Alito’s view, would be “major changes” in consumer protection law.

Persons: ”, Graham Steele, Samuel A, Alito Jr, ’, Alito’s Organizations: Consumer, Treasury Department

☆ Upside-down US flag flew at home of Justice Samuel Alito after 2020 election, New York Times reports
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( John Fritze | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —An upside-down American flag – a symbol used by some supporters of former President Donald Trump who challenged the legitimacy of Joe Biden’s 2020 victory – hung outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito after the election, The New York Times reported Thursday. A spokeswoman for the Supreme Court did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNN, which has not independently verified the flag’s use. “I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag,” Alito said in an emailed statement to the Times. The Times said it was not clear how long the flag flew outside of Alito’s home. Last fall, in response to a series of revelations about travel accepted by Thomas and Alito, the Supreme Court adopted a code of conduct for the first time.

Persons: Donald Trump, Joe Biden’s, –, Samuel Alito, Alito, Trump, “, ” Alito, Trump’s, Clarence Thomas, recusal, Virginia “ Ginni ” Thomas, Thomas, ”, James Organizations: CNN, Supreme, The New York Times, Times, Capitol, The Times, White, Hofstra Law Locations: Alexandria , Virginia, Alabama

☆ At Justice Alito’s House, a ‘Stop the Steal’ Symbol on Display
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Jodi Kantor | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The upside-down flag was aloft on Jan. 17, 2021, the images showed. President Donald J. Trump’s supporters, including some brandishing the same symbol, had rioted at the Capitol a little over a week before. Word of the flag filtered back to the court, people who worked there said in interviews. While the flag was up, the court was still contending with whether to hear a 2020 election case, with Justice Alito on the losing end of that decision. Their decisions will shape how accountable he can be held for trying to overturn the last presidential election and his chances for re-election in the upcoming one.

Persons: Biden, Samuel A, Alito Jr, Donald J, Trump’s, Biden’s, Justice Alito, Trump Organizations: Trump, Supreme, Capitol, The New York Times Locations: Alexandria, Va

☆ Opinion | Justice Alito Is Holding Trump to a Different Standard
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Jamelle Bouie | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

I mentioned it in passing in my Friday column, but I was struck — disturbed, really — by one specific point made by Justice Samuel Alito during Thursday’s oral arguments in Trump v. United States. Alito began innocuously enough: “I’m sure you would agree with me that a stable democratic society requires that a candidate who loses an election, even a close one, even a hotly contested one, leave office peacefully if that candidate is the incumbent.”“Of course,” answered Michael Dreeben, the lawyer arguing the case for the Department of Justice. “Now,” Alito continued, “if an incumbent who loses a very close, hotly contested election knows that a real possibility after leaving office is not that the president is going to be able to go off into a peaceful retirement but that the president may be criminally prosecuted by a bitter political opponent, will that not lead us into a cycle that destabilizes the functioning of our country as a democracy?”The implication of Alito’s question is that presidential immunity for all official acts may be a necessary concession to the possibility of a politically motivated investigation and prosecution: Presidents need to be above the law to raise the odds that they follow the law and leave office without incident.

Persons: Samuel Alito, Alito, ”, Michael Dreeben, “, ” Alito Organizations: Trump v ., Department of Justice Locations: Trump v, Trump v . United States

☆ Civil War-era abortion ban rises again, exactly what Roe opponents wanted
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But this is actually exactly the type of law that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito referred to in the majority opinion overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022. The patchwork of access created by the Dobbs decision has created abortion rights states and abortion ban states. The decision by Arizona’s state Supreme Court to return to the 1864 law is just the latest evidence of the tortured fallout. Video Ad Feedback Arizona governor blasts ruling on abortion ban 03:07 - Source: KNXVWhat is the law in Arizona now? Democrats, nonetheless, are hoping to use the abortion rights issue to mobilize voters in November.

Persons: –, Samuel Alito, Roe, Wade, “, ”, Dobbs, Donald Trump, Trump, Arizona’s, Katie Hobbs, Ben Toma, Warren Petersen, Cindy Von Quednow, Christina Maxouris, Lauren Mascarenhas, Doug Ducey, Ron DeSantis, DeSantis, Kari Lake, Toma, Petersen, Hobbs, South Carolina Sen, Lindsey Graham Organizations: CNN, US, Jackson, Health Organization, Court, Trump, Republican, Democratic, Wade, Republican Gov, Republican Senate, South Carolina, Democrats Locations: Arizona, Florida

CNN —A majority of Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical Tuesday of the idea of a nationwide ban or new limits on mifepristone, the primary drug used for medication abortions. At issue in the case are lower-court rulings that would have rolled back recent Food and Drug Administration decisions to ease access to the mifepristone. “What the court did … is enter sweeping nationwide relief that restricts access to mifepristone for every single woman in this country. Some anti-abortion activists see the law as an avenue to end medication abortion, and perhaps all kinds of abortions. Danco’s attorney said that this case was not an appropriate venue for the court to weigh the reach of the Comstock Act.

Persons: Roe, Wade, John Roberts, Neil Gorsuch, ” Roberts, Erin Hawley, interjected, Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s, ”, ” Gorsuch, Biden, …, Elizabeth Prelogar, Brett Kavanaugh, ” Kavanaugh, Prelogar, Ketanji Brown Jackson, “, Jackson, ” Jackson, Amy Coney Barrett, Barrett, Alito, Thomas, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, ” Alito, Mifepristone, Comstock, mifepristone, Matthew Kacsmaryk –, Trump, –, Kacsmaryk Organizations: CNN, Drug Administration, Conservative, FDA, Justice Department, Amarillo Division, Court, Northern, Northern District of, US, US Judicial Locations: mifepristone, FDA’s, Amarillo, Northern District, Northern District of Texas

☆ The I.V.F. Ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court Should Not Be a Surprise - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Linda Greenhouse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

I never thought I’d be grateful to the Alabama Supreme Court for anything, but now I am. With its decision deeming frozen embryos to be children under state law, that all-Republican court has done the impossible. It has awakened the American public, finally, to the peril of the theocratic future toward which the country has been hurtling. The fact that religious doctrine lay at the heart of Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was perfectly clear, as I observed then. But there’s no avoiding the theological basis of the Alabama court’s solicitude for “extrauterine children,” to use the majority opinion’s phrase.

Persons: I’d, Samuel Alito’s, Dobbs, “, ” Tom Parker, Alabama’s, Jeremiah, ’ Organizations: U.S, Jackson, Health Organization, Alabama Locations: Alabama, Dobbs v

☆ The nonstop sparring match between Justice Samuel Alito and Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Joan Biskupic | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

CNN —Justice Samuel Alito is the tip of the spear for conservatives challenging the Biden administration during oral arguments at the Supreme Court. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar is the Biden administration’s top lawyer at the court, defending the policies that are the source of much of Alito’s consternation. “I think our best example historically is the Customs Service,” Prelogar responded. The Biden administration was backing admissions practices that considered students’ race as a factor in admissions to achieve campus diversity. “No, Justice Alito,” Prelogar said.

Persons: Samuel Alito, Biden, He’s, Elizabeth Prelogar, Alito, Prelogar, Ronald Reagan, George H.W, Bush, George W, Sandra Day O’Connor, ” Prelogar, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, Robert Mueller, Joe Biden, –, ” Alito, “, ”, John Roberts, Roberts, I’m, It’s, ” Alito interjected, ’ Jeffrey Wall, Trump, …, Wall, We’re, Justice Alito, Juliet, Friar Laurence, Brett Kavanaugh, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Friar, Taylor Swift, Friar Lawrence, “ I’m Organizations: CNN, Supreme, Princeton, Yale Law School, Department of Justice, Emory University, Harvard Law School, Miss, ahs, Senate, Republicans, Democrats, Consumer Financial, Federal Reserve System, Customs Service, Biden, FDA, OSHA, Occupational Safety, Health Administration, Harvard, University of North, America, United States, Fair, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Verona Locations: Trenton , New Jersey, New Jersey, Boise , Idaho, Miss Idaho, University of North Carolina, America, ”, Verona, Washington

☆ Senate Democrats Plan to Subpoena Wealthy Figures Who Paid for Thomas’s and Alito’s Luxury Trips
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Jess Bravin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas Alito didn’t disclose the gifts on legally mandated annual financial reports. Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press (2)WASHINGTON—Senate Democrats intensified their investigation into the ethics of Supreme Court justices, announcing plans to subpoena documents from three wealthy figures who helped provide trips to Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito . “The Supreme Court is in an ethical crisis of its own making,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin of Illinois and Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who heads a courts subcommittee, said in a Monday statement. By accepting “lavish, undisclosed gifts, the justices have enabled their wealthy benefactors and other individuals with business before the court to gain private access to the justices while preventing public scrutiny of this conduct.”

Persons: Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas Alito didn’t, Scott Applewhite, Clarence Thomas, “, Dick Durbin of, Rhode Island Sen, Sheldon Whitehouse, ” Organizations: Associated Press, WASHINGTON —, Democrats, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Rhode Locations: Rhode Island

☆ Justice Alito’s First Amendment
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( James Taranto | David B. Rivkin Jr. | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/justice-alito-view-of-first-amendment-aclu-offensive-speech-political-c760fe06

Persons: Dow Jones, alito

A simmering dispute between branches of government over Supreme Court ethics reform boiled over Friday when Justice Samuel Alito publicly rejected a senator’s call to recuse himself from an upcoming case due to a perceived conflict of interest. After Alito was interviewed for a report in the opinion pages of The Wall Street Journal and expressed the view that Congress has no authority over the high court, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois in August urged Chief Justice John Roberts to take steps to ensure that the prominent conservative justice recuse himself from cases concerning legislation that regulates the high court. He also asked for Alito’s recusal in the case of Moore v. United States – a major tax case in which the petitioners are represented in part by one of the authors of the report in the Journal. Durbin, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has been among lawmakers leading a push for ethics reform at the high court that has come to a head amid bombshell reports in recent months questioning the ethics of some justices. He argued along with committee Democrats that, in this situation, the writer’s “access to Justice Alito and efforts to help Justice Alito air his personal grievances could cast doubt on Justice Alito’s ability to fairly discharge his duties” in the tax case.

Persons: Samuel Alito, Alito, Democratic Sen, Dick Durbin of, John Roberts, Alito’s, Moore, Durbin, ”, Durbin’s, ” Alito, “ Organizations: Street, Democratic, Dick Durbin of Illinois, United, Committee, Senate Locations: United States

CNN —Justice Clarence Thomas disclosed Thursday that Republican megadonor Harlan Crow paid for private jet trips for Thomas in 2022 to attend a speech in Texas and a vacation at Crow’s luxurious New York estate, as ethics questions continue to rock the Supreme Court. Thomas made the disclosures after receiving an extension to file the yearly reports that were originally due in May 2023. In a statement after the ProPublica report, Thomas acknowledged the friendship but stressed that Crow did not have business before the court. In addition, he said that he should have disclosed a 2014 private real estate deal between Crow, Thomas and members of Thomas’ family. According to the disclosure, Thomas flew down to be the keynote speaker of the event in February, but returned via private jet “due to an unexpected ice storm.”The talk was rescheduled in May and Thomas rode round trip on Crow’s plane.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Harlan Crow, Thomas, Dobbs, Roe, Wade, “, Crow, Samuel Alito, ProPublica, Thomas ’, ” Thomas, Virginia Thomas, Leola Williams, Williams, VII, –, Elliot S, Berke, Thomas “, ”, Sen, Sheldon Whitehouse, Chip Somodevilla, Elena Kagan, Alito, ” Alito, Gabe Roth, he’s, ” Roth, Rome Alito, Duke Organizations: CNN, Republican, Judicial Conference, Old Parkland Conference, Hoover Institution, Manhattan Institute, American Enterprise Institute, Black Americans, Crow Holdings, Democrats, Supreme, Capitol, Rhode Island, Wall Street, Notre Dame, School’s, Liberty Initiative, Religious Liberty Summit, Regent University School of Law, Duke Law School Locations: Texas, New York, Georgia, Savannah , Georgia, Washington ,, Rome

☆ Justice Thomas Reports Private Trips With Harlan Crow
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Abbie Vansickle | More About Abbie Vansickle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But Justices Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. requested 90-day extensions, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, which collects and publishes the forms. Mr. Crow treated the justice on a series of lavish trips, including flights on his private jet, island-hopping on his superyacht and vacationing at his estate in the Adirondacks. Mr. Crow also bought the justice’s mother’s home in Savannah, Ga., and covered a portion of private school tuition for the justice’s great-nephew, whom he was raising. Other wealthy friends have hosted Justice Thomas, including David L. Sokol, the former heir apparent to Berkshire Hathaway. In the years that followed, Mr. Singer repeatedly had business before the court.

Persons: Thomas, Samuel A, Alito Jr, Thomas’s, Harlan Crow, ProPublica, Crow, David L, Berkshire Hathaway, Anthony Welters, underwrote, Prevost, ” Justice Alito, Paul Singer, Singer Organizations: Administrative, U.S . Courts, Sokol, ” Locations: Texas, Savannah , Ga, Berkshire, Washington, Alaska

☆ Two Justices Clash on Congress’s Power Over Supreme Court Ethics
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( Adam Liptak | More About Adam Liptak | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A few days later, at a judicial conference in Portland, Ore., Justice Kagan took the opposite view, though she cautioned that The Journal had not reproduced the question that had prompted Justice Alito’s answer. “Of course Congress can regulate various aspects of what the Supreme Court does,” she said, ticking off a list of ways in which lawmakers can act. It can increase or shrink the size of the court, and it has over the years done both. Indeed, the Constitution provides that the court has appellate jurisdiction “with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.”All of this is unsurprising, Justice Kagan said. She did not offer an opinion on the narrower question of whether Congress may impose a code of ethics on the justices, but she said the court remained free to act.

Persons: Justice Kagan, Alito’s, ” Locations: Portland ,

☆ Opinion | Republicans Won’t Stop at Banning Abortion
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Jamelle Bouie | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

A majority of Ohio voters support the right to an abortion. The Ohio Legislature — gerrymandered into an seemingly perpetual Republican majority — does not. In many states, this would be the end of the story, but in Ohio voters have the power to act directly on the state constitution at the ballot box. With a simple majority, they can protect abortion rights from a Legislature that has no interest in honoring the views of most Ohioans on this particular issue. They defeated the measure, clearing the path for a November vote on the future of abortion rights in the state.

Persons: Eager, Ohioans, Samuel Alito, Roe, Casey, ”, Alito, Antonin Scalia’s, Clarence Thomas, Dobbs Organizations: Ohio Legislature, Republican, Ohio Locations: Ohio, Dobbs, Idaho, Texas, South Carolina

☆ Supreme Court: John Roberts can't get an ethics code. Samuel Alito's interview shows why
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Joan Biskupic | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —When the Supreme Court left for its summer recess in June, the justices were at a stalemate on adopting a formal ethics code. Chief Justice John Roberts has been seeking unanimity among the nine justices for firm ethics standards, CNN has learned, but such agreement has eluded him. He told the WSJ writers that he was speaking out to defend himself and the Supreme Court because “nobody else” would. “Even assuming that trip is somehow relevant to present concerns about Supreme Court ethics, the connection is highly attenuated, focused on ‘an object remote’ from purported ‘legitimate concerns’ about ethics standards,” Rivkin wrote. A separate Associated Press investigation recently focused on liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s use of Supreme Court staff to coordinate and promote the sale of her books.

Persons: John Roberts, Samuel Alito’s, Alito, “, ”, ” Alito, David B, Rivkin Jr, Rivkin, Leonard Leo, Brett Kavanaugh, Leo, – Alito, Paul Singer, Singer, ” Rivkin, Clarence Thomas, Harlan Crow, Crow, Thomas ’, Thomas, Sonia Sotomayor’s, ’, Roberts, Sen, Murphy, Democratic Sen, Chris Murphy, ” Murphy Organizations: CNN, Democratic, Supreme, WSJ, Republicans, Wall Street Journal, Federalist Society, Democrats, Republican, Associated Press, Congress, House, CNN’s Locations: Alaska, Georgia, CNN’s “ State, Connecticut

☆ Samuel Alito tells Congress to stay out of Supreme Court ethics controversy
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Dan Berman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Congress should stay out of the Supreme Court’s business and stop trying to impose ethics rules on justices and clerks, Justice Samuel Alito said in an interview published by The Wall Street Journal editorial page Friday. “Congress did not create the Supreme Court,” Alito said. No provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court – period.”Spurred by a string of stories calling out questionable ethical decisions and a lack of transparency and disclosure, Senate Democrats have advanced legislation meant to create a code of ethics for the Supreme Court. In an unusual move, Alito last month sought to preempt a ProPublica report on him by publishing a Wall Street Journal op-ed rather than responding to ProPublica’s request for comment directly. “If we’re viewed as illegitimate, then disregard of our decisions becomes more acceptable and more popular,” Alito said.

Persons: Samuel Alito, “, ” Alito, David B, Rivkin Jr, Alito, George W, Bush, he’s, that’s, ”, I’ve, Roe, Wade, Brown Organizations: CNN, Wall, Democrats, Supreme, of Education

☆ Takeaways from the latest controversial and contentious Supreme Court term
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Ariane De Vogue | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

In his opinion blocking the student debt program, Roberts insisted he is concerned about criticisms of the court. “Make no mistake: Supreme Court ethics reform must happen whether the Court participates in the process or not,” he warned. In June, the court sided with a cement mixing company that sought to bypass federal labor law and sue a union in state court for the destruction of property caused by striking workers. On Tuesday, when Roberts announced the court’s opinion in Moore v. Harper, liberals and even some conservatives exhaled, relieved that the court was rejecting a controversial Trump-backed election law theory. “Justice Jackson has a different view,” he said at one point.

Persons: John Roberts, Roe, Wade, ” Roberts, Roberts, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, he’d, Joe Biden’s, Roberts –, –, It’s, Donald Trump’s, ”, Gorsuch, Neil Gorsuch, Bostock, Lorie Smith, ” Alito, Alito, Dobbs, Jackson, Brett Kavanaugh’s, hadn’t, Paul Singer, Singer, ProPublica, “ we’d, “, ” ProPublica, Thomas, Dick Durbin, Elena Kagan, KBJ, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Dr, Adam Feldman, ” Feldman, Sonia Sotomayor, Kagan, Barrett, Thomas couldn’t, ” Jenny Hunter, ” Jackson, ‘, Harper, exhaled, Barack Obama, Rick Hasen –, Hasen, Moore, Thomas Long, Kevin Merida, Michael Fletcher, “ Justice Jackson, Thomas ’ “, ” Thomas Organizations: CNN, Civil, Creative, Politico, Wall Street Journal, Street, GOP, Illinois Democrat, pounced, University of North, National Labor Relations, Independent, Trump, Federal, “, UNC Locations: Colorado, Washington , DC, United States, “, Rome, Illinois, American, Moore, North Carolina

☆ Opinion: The Supreme Court justices picked by Trump were bad. DeSantis would be much worse.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Opinion Duncan Hosie | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

DeSantis has appointed far more extreme justices to the Florida Supreme Court than Trump did to the US Supreme Court. But DeSantis’ appointees to the Florida Supreme Court embrace the Thomas-Alito wing of the organization. DeSantis’ appointees, in contrast, have jumped at entrenching conservative electoral domination and curtailing Black political power. Imitating Thomas and Alito, DeSantis’ appointees have rushed into gratuitous political controversies, writing opinions heavy on theory and light on practicality. Thomas and Alito are in this vanguard, as are DeSantis’ appointees and some of Trump’s lower court appointees, with which DeSantis is aligned.

Persons: Duncan Hosie, Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, Hugh Hewitt, DeSantis, Clarence, Thomas, Samuel, Alito, ” Duncan Hosie, –, Trump, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, George H.W, Bush, George W, Brackeen, Barrett, Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, decisis, – Thomas, Thomas ’, Wade, – Carlos Muñiz, John Couriel, Jamie Grosshans, Renatha Francis, Meredith Sasso, they’ve, Barrett aren’t, Roe, DeSantis playbook, DeSantis ’, Biden, Alito’s, Smith, He’s, ”, groupthink, It’s, Trump’s, haven’t Organizations: New York Times, Washington Post, Street, CNN, Florida Gov, Republican, Trump, Florida Supreme, Detroit, of Education, –, Oregon, Federalist Society, Covid, Employment, today’s, Federalist, Twitter Locations: Florida, Alabama, Black, City of Philadelphia, lockstep

Lower court judges are bound by Supreme Court precedent, but they have some tools at their disposal. They can also give the historically permissive “rational basis” standard of review from the Dobbs opinion some teeth by more closely assessing abortion restrictions and the state’s purported rationales. Lawyers will need to bring cases raising novel issues so that judges can protect abortion rights in new ways. Even if cases and briefs in federal courts lose in the short term, having abortion cases in the pipeline is essential. The Supreme Court will not always look as it does today.

Persons: Biden, Dobbs, Roe Organizations: eventual Locations: Dobbs

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