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….
“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.
“‘But that left open the question: If Miers is a classy, top-of-the-line #conservative, then why was Sen Charles Schumer, D-NY, beaming in contentment at his press conference Mon when he proclaimed that in nominating her, Bush had rebuffed “the very #extreme wing of his party”?’
“Democrats didn't belittle Bush for choosing an unqualified #SCOTUS nominee; Democrats were relieved that Miers wasn't #Alito.”
The #SupremeCourt on Thurs allowed the use of a #SC congressional map that a lower court said “exiled” thousands of #BlackVoters to carve out a district safer for a #WhiteRepublican incumbent.
The decision was a victory for #Republicans not only because it clears the way for a map that is favorable to the #GOP. It also sets a high bar for determining when a map can be considered a #RacialGerrymander, rather than a #partisan one. #SCOTUS has previously found the #Constitution bars racial #gerrymandering but that federal courts cannot police partisan gerrymandering.
Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel #Alito noted many predominantly #Black precincts in #Charleston were moved out of one district & into another. But “because of the tight correlation between race & partisan preferences, this fact does little to show that #race, not #politics drove the legislature’s choice,” he wrote.
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.
During the period the #AppealToHeaven flag was seen flying at the justice’s NJ house, a key #Jan6 case arrived at #SCOTUS, challenging whether those who stormed the Capitol could be prosecuted for #obstruction.
In coming wks, the justices will rule on that case, which could scuttle some of the charges against #Trump, as well as on whether he is #immune from prosecution for actions he took while president.
#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.
After the 2020 presidential #election, as some #Trump supporters falsely claimed that President #Biden had stolen the office, many of them displayed a startling symbol outside their homes, on their cars & online: an upside-down #AmericanFlag.
One of the homes flying an inverted flag during that time was the residence of #SupremeCourt Justice Samuel A #Alito Jr, in Alexandria, VA, acc/to photographs & interviews w/neighbors.
The upside-down flag was aloft on Jan 17, 2021, images showed. #Trump’s supporters, incl’g some brandishing the same symbol, had rioted at the Capitol a little over a week before. President #Biden’s inauguration was 3 days away. Alarmed neighbors snapped photographs, some…were recently obtained by The NYT. Word of the flag filtered back to the court, people who worked there said in interviews.
Justice Clarence Thomas calls criticism of him ‘nastiness’ & ‘lies’
After facing harsh questions about his judicial decisions & accepting lavish gifts from a billionaire, #SCOTUS Justice #ClarenceThomas forcefully pushed back on
his critics Fri — saying he & his wife, #GinniThomas, have endured “nastiness” & “lies.”
#SCOTUS is hearing a challenge today to a federal #law prosecutors used to charge >350 people who attacked the Capitol on #Jan6.
>100 have been convicted & sentenced under the statute for obstructing or impeding an ofcl proceeding—the joint session that convened to confirm Biden’s victory.
The case could impact #Trump’s federal trial in DC for trying to remain in power, 2 charges he faces are based on the same #obstruction statute.
Justice Neil M. #Gorsuch offered several hypotheticals when asking about the breadth of the statute.
“Would a sit-in that disrupts a trial or access to a federal courthouse qualify?" he asked. "Would a heckler in today’s audience qualify or at the State of the Union address? Would pulling a fire alarm before a vote qualify for 20 years in federal prison?”
#SCOTUS Justice Samuel A. #Alito Jr., in suggesting that the #obstruction charge is being read too broadly & covers normal political protest, proposed thinking specifically about a demonstration inside the building where the argument was taking place.
“For all the protests that have occurred in this court, the Justice Department has not charged any serious offenses,” he said.
One section…stands out from #SCOTUS’s decision in #Trump v. Anderson.
“Even though ‘all 9 Members of the Court’ agree that this independent & sufficient rationale resolves this case,” Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan & Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in their concurrence, “5 Justices go on.”
Just to underscore, the “petitioner” is #Trump. The liberal justices were saying their colleagues went on to decide “novel” issues “to insulate” Trump.
You can parse that all day. But it sure sounds as if they’re saying that insulating Trump was, at least in part, the purpose of the court’s going beyond the basic question.
#SCOTUS is “…far behind in issuing rulings for cases heard since the start of the term in Oct. The #court has announced just 5 decisions, leaving 92% of cases to be resolved b4 the term ends in late Jun or early Jul.
“…the court’s backlog represents the slowest pace of any term in the tenure of CJ #JohnRoberts. By Mar1 of the ‘05 term, the court had issued rulings in >⅓ of its cases. That dropped to 21% by this point in the ‘20 term. This yr, it is at 8%.”
“Back in the fall, it seemed the most significant cases on the court’s calendar would be a trio of challenges to the power of the administrative state & a pair of #FirstAmendment cases targeting #laws in TX & FL that control how major #socialmedia platforms curate #content. Since then, #Trump’s #legal & #political troubles have seemingly overwhelmed the docket.”
Justice #SamuelAlito on Tues renewed his criticisms of the #SupremeCourt’s landmark decision recognizing the right to #SameSexMarriage, saying that people who oppose homosexuality risk being unfairly “labeled as bigots & treated as such.”
The justice included his warning in a 5-pg statement explaining why the court had rejected a request to hear a Missouri case about people removed from a jury after voicing religious objections to gay relationships. The case, Justice #Alito wrote, “exemplifies the danger” from the court’s 2015 decision, #ObergefellVHodges.
The ruling, he added, shows how “Americans who do not hide their adherence to traditional religious beliefs about homosexual conduct will be ‘labeled as bigots & treated as such’ by the government.”
The statement appeared to offer a glimpse into Justice #Alito’s continued discontent w/ #Obergefell v. Hodges, in which the court, by a 5-to-4 vote, guaranteed a right to same-sex marriage, a long-sought victory in the gay rights movement.
#SCOTUS won’t fast-track ruling on #Trump’s claim of immunity
#SpecialCounsel#JackSmith had asked the justices to short-circuit the normal appellate process & quickly settle the question of presidential #criminal#immunity, which the #SupremeCourt previously has not been called upon to resolve.
“This case involves — for the first time in our Nation’s history — criminal charges against a former President based on his actions while in office,” #SpecialCounsel#JackSmith said in a filing to #SCOTUS. “And not just any actions: alleged acts to perpetuate himself in power by frustrating the constitutionally prescribed process for certifying the lawful winner of an election.”