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☆ Alito Refuses Calls for Recusal Over Display of Provocative Flags
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Adam Liptak | More About Adam Liptak | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“I had nothing whatsoever to do with the flying of the flag,” Justice Alito wrote. “My wife and I own our Virginia home jointly,” the justice wrote. “She therefore has the legal right to use the property as she sees fit, and there were no additional steps that I could have taken to have the flag taken down more promptly." Justice Alito added that the “Appeal to Heaven” flag at his New Jersey beach house did not convey the meaning critics ascribed to it. “I was not aware of any connection between that historic flag and the ‘Stop the Steal Movement,’ and neither was my wife,” he wrote.

Persons: “, Alito, ” Organizations: ”, ’ Locations: Virginia, New Jersey

☆ Justice Alito’s Wife Has Managed to Avoid the Spotlight Until Now
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Zach Montague | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the 18 years since her family left their home in New Jersey and stepped into some of the most rarefied circles in Washington, Martha-Ann Alito has never sought or cultivated a particularly public identity. As the wife of Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., Mrs. Alito has described keeping a largely private life since his confirmation to the Supreme Court in 2006 — one grounded by raising two children and standing in support of her husband through scrutiny and sharp-elbowed politics. On the handful of occasions she has stepped forward to address an audience or converse with reporters, Mrs. Alito has often spoken about herself in terms of her role within a tight-knit nuclear family, holding it together through her husband’s meteoric, and at times trying, rise within the judiciary. “The most amazing part is, why do people care about our life,” she said in a 2006 interview, looking back on Justice Alito’s confirmation hearing, which at one point left her in tears and stirred discussion about the toll partisanship can take on nominees’ relatives.

Persons: Ann Alito, Samuel A, Alito Jr, Alito, ”, Alito’s Locations: New Jersey, Washington, Martha

☆ How to Force Justices Alito and Thomas to Recuse Themselves in the Jan. 6 Cases - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Jamie Raskin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Many people have gloomily accepted the conventional wisdom that because there is no binding Supreme Court ethics code, there is no way to force Associate Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas to recuse themselves from the Jan. 6 cases that are before the court. Justices Alito and Thomas are probably making the same assumption. Justice Thomas’s wife, Ginni Thomas, was deeply involved in the Jan. 6 “stop the steal” movement. Above the Virginia home of Justice Alito and his wife, Martha-Ann Alito, flew an upside-down American flag — a strong political statement among the people who stormed the Capitol. (Justice Alito said on Wednesday that he would not recuse himself from Jan. 6-related cases.)

Persons: Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Alito, Thomas, Donald, Justice Thomas’s, Ginni Thomas, Martha, Ann Alito, Biden, Trump, Fischer, — Organizations: Trump v . Locations: New Jersey, Trump v, Trump v . United States, United States

☆ Biden pledges to name progressives to the Supreme Court, suggesting he expects vacancies
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Kevin Liptak | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —President Joe Biden promised Black voters Wednesday that he would appoint progressives to the US Supreme Court if elected to a second term, suggesting he expects vacancies on the high court over the next four years. The ideological makeup of the court has emerged as one of the defining facets of American political power. Breyer announced his retirement in January 2022, allowing Biden to fulfill a campaign pledge to nominate a Black woman to the court, Ketanji Brown Jackson. Instead, he consulted the justice on lower court nominations as a way to cultivate a degree of comfort with the process. “Many presidents never get the opportunity to appoint a Supreme Court justice.

Persons: Joe Biden, “, they’re, we’ve, ”, Biden, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, —, Wade, Stephen Breyer, Breyer, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Don McGahn, Anthony Kennedy, Obama, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Trump, Amy Coney Barrett, we’ll Organizations: CNN, Black, Wednesday, Republican, Committee, Liberal, White, Trump, “, Liberty Locations: Philadelphia, Roe

☆ Alito tells lawmakers he will not recuse from Supreme Court cases despite flag controversy
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( John Fritze | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

“The two incidents you cite do not meet the conditions for recusal,” Alito wrote in a letter distributed by the Supreme Court. Supreme Court justices rarely get into a back-and-forth with lawmakers and many members of the court do not explain their reasons for recusing – or not. Video Ad Feedback See how GOP lawmakers reacted to Judge Alito's flag controversy 01:24 - Source: CNNThe Supreme Court is weighing major cases tied to the 2020 election and the attack on the US Capitol. From Google“I had no involvement in the decision to fly that flag,” Alito wrote. Justice Alito also told Fox News the neighbor used the term “c*nt” at one point during the exchanges.

Persons: Samuel Alito, ” Alito, Alito, recusing, Alito's, Donald Trump’s, Jack Smith’s, “, –, Martha, Ann Alito, Samuel Alito's, Illinois Sen, Dick Durbin, ” Durbin, ”, ” Sen, Sheldon Whitehouse, Clarence Thomas ’, —, Sen, Richard Blumenthal, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, John Roberts, Thomas, Hank Johnson, Alito’s, ” Johnson, Trump, Justice Alito, “ Alito, SCOTUS, Roe, Wade, CNN’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, Kate Sullivan, Jack Forrest, Morgan Rimmer, Tierney Sneed, Holmes Lybrand Organizations: CNN, Supreme, Trump, US Supreme, Google, ’, recusal, Democratic, Illinois Democrat, Rhode Island Democrat, Connecticut Democrat, Georgia Democrat, United States Supreme, New York Times, Fox News, Times, Republicans Locations: Alexandria, Virginia, New Jersey, Long Beach, Illinois, Connecticut, Georgia, House

☆ Supreme Court Justice Alito rejects calls to recuse from Trump, Jan. 6 cases
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Associate Justice Samuel Alito poses during a group photo of the Justices at the Supreme Court in Washington, April 23, 2021. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Wednesday rejected Democratic lawmakers' requests that he recuse himself from key cases related to former President Donald Trump and the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot following reports that flags linked to Trump's supporters were flown at his properties. "I was not aware of any connection between that historic flag and the 'Stop the Steal Movement,' and neither was my wife," Alito wrote. Trump, who is awaiting a verdict in his criminal hush money trial in Manhattan Supreme Court, applauded Alito for declining to remove himself from the case. "Congratulations to United States Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for showing the INTELLIGENCE, COURAGE, and 'GUTS' to refuse stepping aside from making a decision on anything January 6th related," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social .

Persons: Samuel Alito, Donald Trump, Alito, Joe Biden, Rather, Jack Smith, Trump, —, Martha, Ann Alito, Dick Durbin, Durbin, Sen, Sheldon Whitehouse Organizations: Supreme, Wednesday, Democratic, Capitol, New York Times, Times, Alito, United States Supreme Locations: Washington, Virginia, Alexandria , Virginia, Long Beach, , New Jersey, Manhattan

☆ Opinion | Can the Supreme Court’s Liberals Reclaim Judicial Restraint?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Linda Greenhouse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Supreme Court’s recent rescue of an important federal agency from the hands of a hostile lower court was an exercise in the evolving definition of originalism. A mechanism that the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit deemed unconstitutional was clearly known to and accepted by the Constitution’s framers, Justice Thomas concluded. Justice Elena Kagan wrote a concurring opinion to say that while the old history was enlightening and adequate to support the agency’s constitutionality, modern practice supported it as well. “All the flexibility and diversity evident in the founding period,” she wrote, has “continued unabated” when it comes to financing government operations. Notably, two of the court’s conservatives, Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, in addition to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined Justice Kagan’s endorsement of the significance of later, even contemporary, practice when interpreting the Constitution.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Thomas, Elena Kagan, ”, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, Sonia Sotomayor, Kagan’s, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch Organizations: Consumer Financial, United States, Appeals, Fifth Circuit

☆ The Alitos, the Neighborhood Clash and the Upside-Down Flag
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Jodi Kantor | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A young couple claimed they were being harassed by the wife of a Supreme Court justice. The officer on the line responded that there was little the police could do: Yelling was not a crime. The couple placed the call after a series of encounters with Martha-Ann Alito, wife of Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., that had gone from uneasy to ugly. The clash between the wife of a conservative Supreme Court justice and the couple, who were in their 30s, liberal and proud of it, played out over months on a bucolic block in Alexandria. But three years later, that neighborhood spat — which both sides said began over an anti-Trump sign — has taken on far greater proportions.

Persons: “, ”, Martha, Ann Alito, Samuel A, Alito Jr, Emily Baden, Alito, Baden, — Organizations: The New York Times, Court, Trump Locations: Fairfax County, Va, Alexandria, America

The discovery that an upside-down American flag — a symbol adopted by the campaign to overturn the 2020 election result — had flown at the home of Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. elicited concerns from politicians, legal scholars and others. And then came news of a second flag. Jodi Kantor, the Times reporter who broke the stories, discusses the saga.

Persons: —, Samuel A, Alito Jr, Jodi Kantor Organizations: Times

☆ Lessons from Judge David Tatel’s Guide Dog on Blindness and Vision
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-27 | by ( Adam Liptak | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Had Al Gore won the presidency in 2000, a lot of people thought, he would have put Judge David S. Tatel on the Supreme Court. The judge had a towering intellect, was a model judicial craftsman and, only incidentally, had been blind since his 30s. But George W. Bush prevailed, with an assist from a closely divided Supreme Court. Judge Tatel served for 23 more years on the U.S. Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia Circuit. He relied on people who would read to him, increasingly sophisticated technology and an astounding memory to produce a widely admired body of judicial work that included major opinions on voting rights, the environment and the internet.

Persons: Al Gore, David S, Tatel, George W, Bush, John G, Roberts Jr, Samuel A, Alito Jr, Judge Tatel Organizations: U.S ., District of Columbia Circuit

☆ Opinion: Alito’s second red flag
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-26 | by ( Kirsi Goldynia | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

This is not the first time Alito has found himself in hot water over displaying a controversial flag on his property. The upside-down flag, a signal of distress, was adopted by Trump supporters who believed the false claim that the election had been stolen. (Alito said his wife had raised the upside-down flag in response to a disagreement with a neighbor. The discovery also comes at a time when the Supreme Court will be making a decision about Trump’s claims of sweeping presidential immunity, his get-out-of-jail-free card for the federal cases he faces. “The notion that the Supreme Court can be trusted to be an arbiter above partisan politics has suffered major blows in recent years.

Persons: ”, Scott Peck, Samuel Alito, “, Alito, Joe Biden’s, Trump, Julian Zelizer, Walt Handelsman, Michael J, Broyde, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Donald Trump, ‘, ’, ” Nikki Haley’s, Nikki Haley’s, Nikki Haley, Haley, Nancy Pelosi, She’s, Joe Biden ‘, I’ve, ” Clay Jones, Drew Sheneman, Judge Juan Merchan, Robert Costello, Michael Cohen, Norm Eisen, Costello, ’ Merchan, cautioning, …, Eisen, Sunak, Rishi Sunak, Henry Nicholls, Holly Thomas, Sunak —, Thomas, Joel Pett, Adolf Hitler, Ruth Ben, Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Said Ben, Anna Sauerbrey, Sauerbrey, Biden, America —, Richard Curtis ’, Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant, Laura Beers, it’s, —, Ebrahim Raisi, Frida Ghitis, Ali Khamenei, Peter Kuper, Cagle, “ I’m, What’s, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al, Masri, Ismail Haniyeh, Peter Bergen, ” Netanyahu, Israel’s, Netanyahu, Kerri Kennedy, Biden “, Israel, ” Don’t, Agency Carrie Sheffield, Noah Berlatsky, Singleton, Biden’s Morehouse, Jill Filipovic, Diddy, Cassie Ventura, Catherine Tan, Shanahan, Brian Castrucci, Frank Luntz, Mark Zandi, Trump Will Cathcart, Joyce M, Davis, Bill Maher, Jimmy Kimmel, Randy Holmes, Bill, ” Nicole Hemmer, Said Will, Maher, Hemmer, ” “ Maher, It’s Organizations: CNN, New York Times, Agency, Trump, South Carolina Gov, Republican, NHS, Labour, Tory, Social, Italiana, European Union, ”, Islamic, Education, Workforce, Harvard, University of California, Columbia University, Columbia, Criminal Court, ICC, Israeli, International Court of Justice, United Nations Security, American Friends Service Committee, RFK, Disney, Entertainment, Democrats Locations: Alito’s Virginia, New Zealand, AFP, ”, England, Trump’s America, America, Italian, Germany, Poland, France, Berlin, Hill, American, British, London, Notting Hill, Iran, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic, University of California Los Angeles, Gaza, United Kingdom, Rafah, Georgia’s, Moscow, Africa

☆ 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

☆ Tired, testy and fractured: The Supreme Court prepares for more drama
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Joan Biskupic | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

CNN —As Supreme Court justices try to resolve more than a dozen major cases over the next month, including whether Donald Trump must stand trial for election subversion, they appear mired in antagonism and distrust. Conservatives, who indeed hold the upper hand on the 6-3 court, nonetheless spike their writing and remarks with derision for the left. When the court majority allowed Louisiana state officials to use a map with a second majority-Black congressional district (over the protest of a GOP-backed group of White voters), the three liberals dissented. (A lower US court had referred to it as the “bleaching of African American voters” from the district.) Dissenting liberals emphasized that the decision reversing the lower court undercut a 2017 Supreme Court ruling, Cooper v. Harris, issued before the far-right majority took hold.

Persons: Donald Trump, Samuel Alito, Alito, Elena Kagan, Clarence Thomas, Ketanji Brown Jackson, John Roberts, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, Sonia Sotomayor, Kagan, Jackson, Blacks, Purcell, ’, Amy Coney Barrett, “, ” Barrett, Roberts, ” They, Bush, Feedback Kavanaugh, Gore, Cooper, Harris, ” Kagan, ” Alito, Joe Biden’s, Biden, Martha, Ann, ”, Alito tersely, Kagan’s, Edwin Kneedler, ” Roberts, Kneedler, Joshua Turner, Sotomayor, ” Sotomayor, Turner, interjected Organizations: CNN, Trump, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Liberal, GOP, White voters, Congress, Gore, South, American, Capitol, New York Times, US Justice Department Locations: America, Colorado, South Carolina, Carolina, Louisiana, Virginia, New Jersey, American, Alito’s, Jersey, Grants Pass , Oregon, Idaho, The Idaho

is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and co-author of “She Said,” which recounts how she and Megan Twohey broke the story of sexual abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein, helping to ignite the #MeToo movement. Instagram •

Persons: “, Said, Megan Twohey, Harvey Weinstein, Instagram

☆ Lawmakers Dial Up Pressure on Alito to Recuse From Elections Cases
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Zach Montague | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A growing number of Democratic lawmakers called for Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. to recuse himself from cases related to Jan. 6, 2021, and demanded new ethics rules for the Supreme Court after revelations that flags carried by rioters at the Capitol were flown outside his homes. With the Supreme Court just weeks away from issuing decisions on two major cases concerning former President Donald J. Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the events of Jan. 6, lawmakers said the symbolism of the flags called into question Justice Alito’s neutrality. In an interview on Thursday, Representative Steve Cohen, a Democrat from Tennessee who has introduced a resolution to censure Justice Alito, said Congress needed to take the firm position that the justice’s actions were a violation of judicial propriety. “He’s not going to resign, he’s not going to recuse himself, and I don’t think Justice Roberts is going to be able to influence him in that regard,” he said, referring to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. “So the best we can do is to kind of put a scarlet letter on him.”

Persons: Samuel A, Alito Jr, Donald J, Steve Cohen, Justice Alito, “ He’s, he’s, Roberts, ”, John G Organizations: Democratic, Capitol Locations: Tennessee

☆ Justice Alito would be disqualified from January 6 cases if he were on a lower court but SCOTUS's rules are 'merely performative,' expert says
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Justice Samuel Alito has faced criticism for displaying pro-Trump flags at his properties. The incidents would disqualify him from Jan. 6 cases in a lower court, but SCOTUS rules are more lenient. SCOTUS's code of ethics is "merely performative," a legal ethics professor told BI. AdvertisementSupreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has been under fire for displaying pro-Trump flags outside his properties. The flags would have disqualified him from working on January 6 cases if he were on a lower court because SCOTUS's rules are "merely performative," a legal ethics professor told Business Insider.

Persons: Samuel Alito, SCOTUS, —, Doron Kalir Organizations: Trump, Service, Cleveland State University, Business

☆ Justices Allowed a Contested Voting Map in South Carolina
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority cleared the way today for South Carolina to keep using a congressional map that a lower court had deemed an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. All three liberal justices dissented. The ruling handed a victory to the state’s Republicans by allowing them to maintain a stronghold on a district in Charleston County. The immediate effect will be limited: This year’s elections were already set to take place under the contested map. In dissent, the liberal justices argued that it could become all but impossible to challenge voting maps as racial gerrymanders.

Persons: Samuel Alito, ”, Richard Hasen Organizations: voters Locations: South Carolina, Charleston County

☆ Republican senators defend Alito over second controversial flag
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Manu Raju | Morgan Rimmer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Top Republican senators are defending Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito as the conservative justice became embroiled in a second flag controversy, even as some Democrats call for Alito to recuse himself from key matters pending before the high court. “I just think Democrats are determined to harass members of the Supreme Court. So obviously, they don’t like Justice Alito or the decisions he makes,” he told CNN. Several prominent Republican senators criticized Alito over the upside-down flag. “I think the question is how many MAGA battle flags does the Supreme Court justice have to fly until the rest of the court takes it seriously?” he asked.

Persons: Samuel Alito, Alito, Donald Trump, Sen, John Cornyn, “, Sotomayor, Kagan, ”, Clarence Thomas, —, GOP Sen, Chuck Grassley, Sonia Sotomayor, “ I’m, ’, Grassley, Trump, Joe Biden’s, –, Thom Tillis, I’m, you’re, ” Tillis, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Bill Cassidy, Cassidy, Sheldon Whitehouse, MAGA, Hakeem Jeffries, ” Jeffries, Katherine Clark, Alito’s, ” Clark, CNN’s Haley Talbot, Annie Grayer Organizations: CNN, Top Republican, Capitol, Committee, GOP, “, Supreme, New York Times, Times, Senate, Democratic, Democrat, United States Supreme Locations: New Jersey

☆ Opinion: What Alito’s flag controversies say about the Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Julian Zelizer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —If Chief Justice John Roberts is really an institutionalist — someone deeply concerned about the integrity of the Supreme Court and public perceptions about it — then he has a big problem on his hands. The discovery also comes at a time when the Supreme Court will be making a decision about Trump’s claims of sweeping presidential immunity, his get-out-of-jail-free card for the federal cases he faces. The notion that the Supreme Court can be trusted to be an arbiter above partisan politics has suffered major blows in recent years. Supreme Court decisions have not been the only issue. The Alito flag controversy is another blow to the image of the court.

Persons: Julian Zelizer, ”, John Roberts, —, Samuel Alito —, Donald Trump, Alito, Alito hasn’t, Trump, SCOTUS, “, Dobbs, Roe, Wade, Clarence Thomas ’, Virginia Thomas, Thomas ’, Roberts, George W Organizations: CNN, Princeton University, Twitter, Supreme, New York Times, Jackson, Health, Annenberg Public, Center, Pew Research Center, Republican Locations: New Jersey, Virginia, Vietnam, Florida

☆ Cruz refuses to unconditionally accept results of 2024 election
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Shania Shelton | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

“I think that’s actually a ridiculous question,” replied Cruz when asked by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source” whether he will accept the results of the 2024 election regardless of who wins. Cruz, who objected to Arizona’s election results on January 6, 2021, then went on in his interview with Collins to suggest, baselessly, that the 2020 election was rife with fraud. “So my question for you again, free and fair election, will you accept the results regardless of who wins?” Collins asked. “If the Democrats win, I will accept the result, but I’m not going to ignore fraud regardless of what happens,” Cruz responded. Trump said earlier this month that he would only accept the 2024 election results “if everything’s honest.” Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York and Sen. J.D.

Persons: Republican Sen, Ted Cruz, “, ”, Cruz, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, ‘ Will, ” Cruz, Collins, ” Collins, I’m, Donald Trump, Trump, Elise Stefanik, Sen, J.D, Vance of Ohio, South Carolina Republican Sen, Tim Scott, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, We’re, Sam Alito, Martha, Ann Alito, Alito Organizations: CNN, Republican, Republicans, Trump, South Carolina Republican, Senate Locations: New York

☆ 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
▼ + 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

Last summer, two years after an upside-down American flag was flown outside the Virginia home of Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., another provocative symbol was displayed at his vacation house in New Jersey, according to interviews and photographs. This time, it was the “Appeal to Heaven” flag, which, like the inverted U.S. flag, was carried by rioters at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Also known as the Pine Tree flag, it dates back to the Revolutionary War, but largely fell into obscurity until recent years and is now a symbol of support for former President Donald J. Trump, for a religious strand of the “Stop the Steal” campaign and for a push to remake American government in Christian terms. Three photographs obtained by The New York Times, along with accounts from a half-dozen neighbors and passers-by, show that the Appeal to Heaven flag was aloft at the Alito home on Long Beach Island in July and September of 2023. A Google street view image from late August also shows the flag.

Persons: Samuel A, Alito Jr, Donald J, Trump, Alito Organizations: Capitol, The New York Times Locations: Virginia, New Jersey, Long

☆ Video: Wolf Blitzer pushes back on Bolton after he defends Justice Alito flying controversial flag outside home
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Austin Mabeus | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

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☆ Biden’s EPA is trying to take a huge bite out of the climate crisis. But can it survive Trump’s Supreme Court?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Ella Nilsen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Bottom row, from left, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, Associate Justice Samuel Alito, and Associate Justice Elena Kagan. Top row, from left, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. And environmental attorneys are intrigued by Barrett, who has had some tough questions for EPA’s challengers during recent Supreme Court arguments. The Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that the EPA can use its authority to regulate greenhouse gases. That gives the agency the recent Congressional direction the Supreme Court has said it so badly needs, some experts said.

Persons: Joe Biden’s, Richard Lazarus, “, Michael Regan, ” “, ” Regan, Regan’s, ” Lazarus, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Gorsuch, Alito, ” David Doniger, “ Alito –, ”, Reagan, Anne Gorsuch, Sonia Sotomayor, John Roberts, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, Ketanji Brown Jackson, J, Scott Applewhite, Amy Coney Barrett –, Roberts, Barrett, Kavanaugh, Sackett, “ He’s, he’s, doesn’t, Ann Carlson, ” Carlson, ” Doniger Organizations: CNN, Joe Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency, Harvard Law, EPA, Republican, Natural Resources Defense Council, Chevron, DC, Appeals, DC Circuit, University of California, Biden, Congress Locations: China, United, Virginia, University of California Los Angeles, West Virginia, Congress

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