Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's flag dilemma raises ethics concerns

WASHINGTON (TND) — Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is tangled up in two flag controversies: one that goes back to Jan. 6 and another one from last summer.

Focusing on the first one, an upside-down American flag was seen outside Justice Alito’s home a few days after Jan. 6, which at the time was seen as a sign of support for former President Donald Trump.

The U.S. flag code says the “flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.” However, it is not legally enforceable. In 1990, the Supreme Court ruled that prosecuting someone for burning the flag in protest violates free speech rights.

Justice Alito claims his wife raised the flag during a dispute with neighbors, but many are still calling for him to recuse himself over ethics violations.

Ethical guidelines – specifically the Code of Conduct set in place in 2023 – make it clear that judges should recuse themselves in cases where their spouses have financial interests, but it is less clear when spouses have a known political point of view.

Judicial experts have said that the flag is an ethics violation because it questions whether Alito can be impartial in any case related to Jan. 6.

Ethical dilemmas involving the Supreme Court and its Justices are not a new feat.

According to the most recent polling from Gallup, only 41% of American adults approve of the Supreme Court’s job performance, which is barely above the record low of 40% in September of 2021, which was after the Court decided not to block a Texas abortion law.

Another poll from the Pew Research Center had similar results, with just 44% of Americans expressing a favorable view of the Court and 54% expressing a negative view.

This is the first time this poll, which dates back to 1987, has recorded significantly more negative views than positive ones, and marks a 26% drop in favorability since 2020.

The low approval rating is largely driven by Americans thinking the Court is too conservative, according to Gallup. 42% of Americans said the current Supreme Court is about right, 39% see it as too conservative and 17% see it as too liberal.

The Pew Research Center poll found similar reasoning, with 71% of Democrats saying the court is too conservative. Republicans were more than twice as likely as Democrats to say the Court is “middle of the road” (57% to 24%).

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