John,

It’s hard to overstate the significance of the news that Supreme Court Justice Alito’s house was flying a “Stop the Steal” symbol at the same time that the Court was considering a case challenging the results of the 2020 election.

This calls into question Alito’s impartiality in every case that has come before the Supreme Court about the 2020 election and the January 6th insurrection. That includes our 14th Amendment lawsuit against Trump which the Court heard in February.

In the days following the January 6th attack, Alito’s house flew an upside down flag—a symbol used at the insurrection.

Now that we know that, it’s easy to question whether the plaintiffs we represented got a fair hearing when litigating that Trump was constitutionally ineligible for office.

Alito never should have heard cases about the 2020 election results or Trump’s responsibility for the January 6th insurrection. And he should never hear a case that touches on those issues again. He should have recused, just as ethics rules demand.

In the New York Times story, Alito attempted to put the blame on his wife. But from a judicial ethics perspective, that doesn’t matter.

Supreme Court justices have a duty to not only BE fair and impartial, but to APPEAR fair and impartial. Alito has unquestionably failed to do so.

To enforce the law, the Supreme Court has nothing but its own credibility to back up its decisions, and Alito’s conduct has damaged not only his own credibility but also the credibility of the Court.

The American people’s trust in the Court is at an all-time low, and this story should be a wake up call to Congress that the time for a binding Supreme Court ethics code is now.

Thank you,

Donald Sherman
Executive Director
CREW