(ReliableNews.org) – After former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, some Conservatives hung their American flags upside down as a declaration that they thought the US was in distress. A recent report revealed that a Supreme Court justice, who’s supposed to be impartial, had one such display outside of his own home. The justice has now issued a statement explaining why it was there.
On May 16, a picture of an upside-down American flag on a pole outside of Justice Samuel Alito’s home on January 17, 2021. The photo was taken just three days before President Joe Biden’s inauguration and less than two weeks after the January 6 riot.
At the time the flag was up, the Supreme Court was ruling on an election case related to whether state courts could modify election rules. The question was a point of contention with the Trump campaign amid the national health crisis and the 2020 election results. The GOP lost the case, but Alito was one of the dissents.
Alito issued a statement to The Times blaming the scandal on his wife, saying he “had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag.” He claimed she briefly hung the American flag upside down in response to a neighbor’s “objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs.”
Law experts claimed the incident was a violation of ethics rules because the justice is supposed to be impartial but the flag gave the appearance of bias. Alito will soon vote with the rest of the court on multiple cases related to Trump, including one about whether to grant him immunity. Experts are concerned the flag report raises questions about the justice’s impartiality.
According to interviews with neighbors, Martha-Ann Alito was upset with a neighbor over an anti-Trump sign in their yard.
University of Virginia law professor Amanda Fost said it doesn’t matter if Mrs. Alito put it there, “he shouldn’t have it in his yard as his message to the world,” likening it to a “Stop the Steal” sign in his yard. She said it’s a problem for someone ”deciding election-related cases.”
Lower courts are prohibited from displaying signs of political bias, including bumper stickers or yard signs. When a reporter reached out to the high court to find out if those rules also bound the justices, they received no response.
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