Alito and the upside down flag: What the symbol means to 'stop the steal' crowd
An upside-down American flag is a symbol connected with false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.
WASHINGTON − An upside-down American flag ôôֱ a symbol connected with false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump − flew at the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito after the election, the Thursday.
The news came as the high court is deciding two cases related to the attempts by Trump and his supporters to overturn the results of the election, decisions that will affect the criminal election interference charges pending against Trump. Supreme Court justices are .
In a statement to The New York Times, Alito said he ôôֱhad no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag.ôôֱ
ôôֱIt was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighborôôֱs use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs,ôôֱ he told the Times, referring to his wife Martha-Ann Alito.
Justice Alito says he couldn't tell his wife Martha-Ann Alito what to do
Alito he didnôôֱt have the right or ability to tell his wife what to do in the neighborhood dispute that began after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Alito also said the neighborsôôֱ sign she was reacting to by flying the upside-down flag blamed her for what happened on Jan. 6.
Inverted flags, a sign of distress, have been used by Trump supporters, particularly those protesting the 2020 election.
Kathleen Clark, a legal ethics expert at Washington University in St. Louis, who emphasized that sheôôֱs not an authority on the significance of an upside-down flag, said justices are not supposed to publicly display support or opposition to partisan political candidates.
ôôֱIf it means `Stop the Steal,ôôֱ then it seems like he didnôôֱt mind that ideological message going out to the world,ôôֱ she said of the flag. ôôֱThatôôֱs political activity, arguably.ôôֱ
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Calls for recusal
There have already been calls for Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from those decisions because of his wifeôôֱs political advocacy.
վԾôôֱGinniôôֱ Thomas has argued repeatedlyôôֱthe 2020 election was stolen and attendedôôֱTrumpôôֱs ôôֱStop the Stealôôֱ rally on Jan. 6, 2021.
Stephen Gillers, a judicial ethics expert at New York Universityôôֱs law school, told USA TODAY he doubts Alito knew the flag was flying upside down or, if he did know, wasnôôֱt aware of the ôôֱStop the Stealôôֱ connection.
ôôֱI don't believe Alito would haveôôֱallowed thisôôֱto happen if he did know,ôôֱ Gillers said. ôôֱWhileôôֱAlito's explanation for how it didôôֱhappen isôôֱhard to believe, it is more credible than the view that he knowingly chose to fly the flag upside down knowing its meaning to the "Stop the Steal" crowd.ôôֱ
Alicia Bannon, director of the judiciary program at the Brennan Center for Justice, a liberal group, said a reasonable person could question Alitoôôֱs impartiality in the pending cases related to Jan. 6, 2021, and the charges Trump faces.
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Alito, she should recuse himself from those cases.
But both Bannon and Clark noted that the code of conduct the court adopted last year in response to ethics controversies does not include an enforcement mechanism.
ôôֱIt's an acknowledgment that he needs to do something,ôôֱ Clark said, ôôֱbut it failed to do the most important thing which is provide a mechanism for accountability.ôôֱ