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☆ How Could Alito Have Been So Foolish to Fly an Upside-Down American Flag? - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Michael Ponsor | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

I won’t even opine whether my flying the flag upside-down flag at my house would have constituted a violation of the Code of Ethics that binds me and all federal judges — except the justices. The fact is that, regardless of its legality, displaying the flag in that way, at that time, shouldn’t have happened. To put it bluntly, any judge with reasonable ethical instincts would have realized immediately that flying the flag then and in that way was improper. The same goes with the flying of an “Appeal to Heaven” flag at Justice Alito’s vacation house along the New Jersey shore. Like the upside-down flag, this flag is viewed by a great many people as a banner of allegiance on partisan issues that are, or could be, before the court.

Persons: Samuel Alito, St, “ Organizations: Justice Locations: New Jersey

☆ Opinion | Justices Ignoring the ‘Scent of Impropriety’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To the Editor:Re “What Smells Off at the Court?,” by Michael Ponsor (Opinion guest essay, July 16):Judge Ponsor’s bewilderment at the loss of olfaction on the Supreme Court is spot on. As he explained, it isn’t that hard for a judge to catch even a faint whiff of the scent of impropriety. And you don’t have to be a federal judge to smell it. Another time, a company hoping to build a development on a Superfund site hosted a presentation for federal and municipal officials. The company’s spokesperson presented each city official with a goodie bag filled with stuff like baseball caps bearing the project’s name.

Persons: Michael Ponsor, Ponsor’s bewilderment Organizations: Justice Department

☆ A Federal Judge Asks Whether the Supreme Court Understands How Bad It Looks to the Public - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Michael Ponsor | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Many years ago, as a fairly new federal magistrate judge, I was chatting about our kids with a local attorney I knew only slightly. The tickets were beyond my usual price range, and the game would be a fun outing with my 7-year-old. He had a woodworking hobby, and inside the package was an exquisitely crafted oak pencil case with bronze hinges. My ruling had made a big difference for them, and they wanted to extend this modest, personal gesture of gratitude. You don’t just stay inside the lines; you stay well inside the lines.

Persons: he’d, Samuel Alito, I’d Organizations: Red Sox, Fenway, Social Security Locations: Alaska

☆ A federal judge harshly criticized the Supreme Court's recent ethics scandals in a NYT essay: 'What in the world has happened'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A federal judge in Massachusetts wrote a scathing opinion essay in the New York Times, excoriating the Supreme Court's recent ethical debacles. Judge Michael Ponsor, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, said the high court needs a code of ethics. Following the reports of several Supreme Court justices crossing ethical lines, a plethora of congressional Democrats have also called for the Supreme Court to institute a code of ethics. As it stands, the high court does not have one, and the court's chief justice has pushed back on efforts to instate one. "The Supreme Court will no longer exist as a truly viable institution if it continues the failure to face the need for a code of ethics," Blumenthal said.

Persons: Michael Ponsor, Bill Clinton, Michel Ponsor, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor's, Sen, Richard Blumenthal, Blumenthal Organizations: New York Times, Service, Court, District, Massachusetts, Democratic, Committee Locations: Massachusetts, Wall, Silicon

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