#SCOTUS Justice Samuel A. #Alito Jr. has offered multiple accounts of how politically charged flags [#insurrectionist flags] came to fly outside his homes in VA & NJ — the type of display that is generally off-limits for judges, who must remain #impartial & avoid even the appearance of #bias as they handle cases.
#Alito has yet to fully explain some key aspects of the controversy: How long did an #UpsideDown American #flag fly at the Alitos’ Virginia home? Where did they get the “#AppealToHeaven” flag that flew at their New Jersey beach house? And more. Here are the major discrepancies in Alito’s telling & what he still has not fully answered. Neither he nor his wife, #MarthaAnnAlito, responded to a request for comment.
Baden said…that…it was actually she who uttered the epithet, an acct corroborated by a neighbor who heard it.
#Alito told Fox that following the exchange his wife was “distraught” & raised the upside-down flag. A photo…showed the #flag flying on Jan 17, 2021.
The encounter between #MarthaAnnAlito, Baden & her boyfriend occurred a month AFTER the #UpsideDown flag was raised, acc/to a phone call placed to police that day. A VA govt spox confirmed that call was on Feb 15, 2021.
The most pivotal question about the #UpsideDown American #flag has yet to be fully answered: #MarthaAnnAlito’s motivation for flying it.
…The Alitos have not explicitly addressed whether the upside-down flag had a connection to #Jan6 or “Stop the Steal,” & Justice #Alito’s comments about his wife’s motivation for flying it have shifted.
The upside-down American flag goes mainstream as a form of right-wing protest.
NPR reports on the trend after an inverted American flag flew outside the Virginia home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in January 2021. Many conservatives displayed the flag in a similar fashion to protest Donald Trump's conviction in the hush-money case.
Each page yesterday took him just a little more than a minute, so this will take >30 mins.
Between that & the testimony readbacks, also expected to take >30 mins, there will likely be >1 hour this morning w/the jury in the courtroom, not actively deliberating.
#Trump has posted a photo on his social media w/o comment — the photo of the #UpsideDown American #flag that was hung outside the home of #SCOTUS justice Samuel #Alito after the Capitol riot in 2021. The upside down flag was a symbol of distress but is now a #RightWing symbol of #Jan6, Stop the Steal & support for Trump. It was posted by several other #Republicans as well.
“The clash between the wife of a conservative #SCOTUS justice & a couple…in their 30s & liberal…played out over months….the…shouting match…at the height of tensions over the #2020election…might have happened in any mixed political community in America.”
There are some differences: For instance, Justice #Alito told Fox News that his wife hoisted the flag in response to Ms. Baden’s vulgar insult. However, a text message & the police call — corroborated by Fairfax County authorities — indicate that the name-calling took place on Feb. 15, weeks AFTER the inverted #flag was taken down.
Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. announced Wed that he will not recuse himself from Jan. 6-related cases at #SCOTUS after Democratic lawmakers questioned whether he could be impartial following reports that an upside-down #flag flew at his home in the weeks after the… [#insurrection].
The wife of #SCOTUSJusticeSamuel #Alito told a WaPo reporter in Jan 2021 that an #UpsideDown American #flag recently flown on their flagpole was “an international signal of distress” & indicated that it had been raised in response to a neighborhood dispute. #MarthaAnnAlito made the comments when the reporter went to the couple’s FairfaxCounty, VA, home to follow up on a tip about the flag….
“The controversy about the decision to fly an #UpsideDown American #flag outside the home of Justice #Alito recalls St. Paul’s admonition that while some things may be lawful, ‘not all things are helpful.’
“I can offer no opinion as to whether the flag display at the justice’s house was #unlawful. I won’t even opine whether my flying the flag upside-down at my house would have constituted a violation of the code of #ethics that binds me & all #FederalJudges — except the justices.
“To me, the #flag issue is much simpler. 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 w/reasonable #ethical instincts would have realized immediately that flying the flag then & in that way was improper. And dumb.”
“The same goes for the flying of an #AppealToHeaven flag at Justice #Alito’s vacation house along the NJ shore. Like the #UpsideDown flag, this #flag is viewed by a great many people as a banner of allegiance on #partisan issues that are or could be before #SCOTUS.
The photos, each taken independently, are from 4 different dates. It is not clear whether the #flag was displayed continuously during those months or how long it was flown overall.
Justice #Alito declined to respond to questions about the beach house flag, including what it was intended to convey & how it comported w/his obligations as a justice. #SCOTUS also declined to respond.
#Judges are not supposed to give any impression of #bias, yet the #flag could be seen as telegraphing #Alito’s views….“We all have our biases, but the good judge fights against them,” said Charles Geyh, a #law prof at IU. “When a judge celebrates his predispositions by hoisting them on a flag…that’s deeply disturbing.”
Records show that the Alitos have owned the beach house since 2014, & he is a well-known presence in the waterfront community. Residents…recalled seeing the justice last summer….
#Republican members of #Congress & state ofcls have displayed the #flag as well, among them #DougMastriano, a PA state senator & a leader of the “Stop the Steal” campaign. The highest-ranking elected ofcl known to show the flag is Rep #MikeJohnson, who hung it at his office last fall shortly after becoming #speaker of the #House.
anyone have updates on the MA state #flag and #seal redesign?
This @gbhnews
article from last year said no design was currently being considered post the decision to remove the current racist imagery? #mapoli#news#art