News of a popular “Stop the Steal” symbol on the justice’s front lawn led jurists and politicians to express concerns about coming court decisions.
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...But jurists and legal scholars said the display was a violation of judicial ethics, including
the Supreme Court’s own guidelines, which emphasize the need to remain politically independent.
“I have long said that Supreme Court justices, their spouses and their families should conduct themselves in all ways and at all times such that they are beyond reproach,” J. Michael Luttig, a prominent conservative and former U.S. Court of Appeals judge appointed by President George Bush who opposed efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, said in an interview. He added that
maintaining respect was “indispensable to the public’s acceptance of the court’s judgments.”
The news of the inverted flag ignited responses from political leaders across the left. Several called on the justice to step aside from cases involving the attack on the Capitol.
“Flying an upside-down American flag — a symbol of the so-called Stop the Steal movement —
clearly creates the appearance of bias,” Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said in a statement on Friday. “Justice Alito should recuse himself immediately from cases related to the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 insurrection.”
The senator also renewed a push for legislation that would require Supreme Court justices to adopt a binding code of conduct, create a procedure to investigate allegations of ethical violations and increase disclosure requirements for potential conflicts of interest....