Team,
News broke this week that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has flown two MAGA battle flags over his homes — an upside-down flag (a symbol adopted by Trump supporters in the “stop the steal” movement), and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag (carried by rioters on January 6th).
- NYT, 5/22/24
Why is this a problem? Supreme Court justices are supposed to refrain from political activity. They have to be completely impartial so the American people can trust that cases are decided fairly. This is a brazen violation of that basic principle. And Alito has yet to recuse himself from cases before the Supreme Court related to January 6th, despite flying flags of allegiance to the insurrectionists’ cause.
This isn’t an isolated ethics problem over at the Roberts Court. Justice Alito still hasn’t seriously addressed questions about the free Alaskan vacation far-right court fixer Leonard Leo organized for him — which he didn’t disclose.
Then there’s Justice Thomas, also participating in cases related to January 6th, despite his wife’s apparent involvement. And he has his own long string of undisclosed expensive gifts and luxury vacations from a politically active Republican billionaire.
Unlike every other federal court, the Supreme Court is not subject to a binding code of ethics. No one ever asks the justices what the facts are. No official statements are made (firing off excuses to Fox News doesn’t count). And the justices don’t face penalties for rule-breaking like every other federal judge does.
It sure seems like the far-right Federalist Society justices, cocooned in billionaire money, believe they are beyond accountability. But we can change that.
There is a complete system failure at the Supreme Court when it comes to ethics. The American people deserve better. My Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act offers real solutions to this mess. Will you chip in today to support my re-election campaign so I can keep leading the fight to bring ethics reform to the Supreme Court? I won’t let up.
Thank you,
Sheldon Whitehouse
