Press
Trump fans use the inverted US flag to question Biden’s election victory. She can also be seen in front of a judge’s house.
Washington, DC – Arch-conservative Justice Samuel Alito of the US Supreme Court (Supreme Court) is in trouble. In front of his house should go Donald Trump’s Election defeat in 2020 apparently hung an upside down US flag – a popular symbol among Trump supporters to mark the US President’s election victory Joe Biden to question.
A report from the New York Times According to the report, the flag was raised in front of Alito’s home in Alexandria, Virginia on January 17, 2021. The newspaper wrote this, citing statements and photos from the judge’s neighbors. However, the accused denies having anything to do with the matter. “I was in no way involved in the raising of the flag,” Alito said in an emailed statement to the paper. Instead, according to the judge’s statement, his wife raised the upside-down flag. But not just “in response to a neighbor’s use of offensive and personally offensive language on yard signs.”
Pro-Trump symbol in front of the judge’s house? Allegations against Supreme Court judges
The matter is explosive because the upside-down US flag was a symbol of those Trump supporters who falsely claimed in the aftermath of the last election that President Biden had stolen the office. During the storming of the Capitol in Washington DC on January 6, 2021, the upside down flag was also displayed many times by the rioters. Biden’s inauguration was just three days away at this point. And just eleven days later, the emblem of Trump supporters flew over the lawn of a top federal judge.
In this context, it is the duty of such an official to ensure that no misunderstandings arise, as legal scholars and ethicists do New York Times opposite emphasized. Even the appearance of bias should be avoided, otherwise the judge’s impartiality could be called into question. The mere impression of a political opinion could be a problem. “It may be his spouse or someone else living in his house, but he shouldn’t have it in his yard as his message to the world,” law professor Amanda Frost said in the report.
The wife in the neighborhood dispute – commitment to Donald Trump despite being a judge?
Flying such a license plate is “the equivalent of putting a ‘Stop the Steal’ sign” in the yard, Frost continued. This slogan – in German “stop the theft” – was the slogan of those people who stormed the Capitol for their former president. According to the legal expert, this becomes a problem at the latest when it concerns the property of a judge who decides “on cases related to elections”. While the flag was raised, the court was still grappling with the question of whether to accept the allegations of election fraud US election should follow up in 2020. Alito argued in favor of hearing the arguments, but was ultimately on the losing side.
In fact, according to the article, interviews with residents reveal that the judge’s wife, Martha-Ann Alito, had a fight with another family in the neighborhood over an anti-Trump sign on their lawn. However, given the timing and the powerful meaning of the symbol, neighbors would have interpreted the upside-down flag primarily as a political statement by the couple.
Political signs are taboo on the Supreme Court: Is the Trump judge unfit for office?
The longstanding Code of Ethics for the U.S. lower courts, as well as the Code of Ethics recently adopted by the Supreme Court, emphasize the need for judges to remain independent. Political statements or opinions on matters that may be brought before them should be avoided. Court employees are not permitted to publicly display their party political views. This also includes attaching signs or car stickers.
For Take Back the Court, a group that opposes the conservative course the court has taken in recent years, this is proof that Alito doesn’t belong on the court. “Sam Alito has disqualified himself from legitimately serving on the Supreme Court,” the group’s president, Sarah Lipton-Lubet, said, according to the website HuffPost in a statement. There is perhaps nothing more like a raised middle finger to the American public than “proudly displaying, right in your front yard, a remnant of a failed coup attempt against the country you were supposed to serve.” (tpn)
#Supreme #Court #Justice #Alito #excitement #flag