Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C), the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, criticized conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito following a New York Times report that an upside-down flag was on display in his yard, but he stopped short of calling for Alito’s recusal.
“Emotions are apparently high in that neighborhood, but it’s not good judgment to do that,” Graham told reporters Monday. “He said his wife was insulted and got mad, assume that be true, but he’s still a Supreme Court justice. And, you know, people have to realize that moments like that, to think it through.”
The flag should only be displayed upside-down to indicate “dire distress in instance of extreme danger to life or property.” But, supporters of Donald Trump have displayed the flag that way as a symbol to show their support for the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him due to widespread fraud.
The New York Times reported last week that the upside-down flag was on display at Alito’s home on January 17,2021— three days before President Joe Biden’s inauguration and days after a pro-Trump mob stormed the US Capitol to prevent the certification of Biden’s victory.
The Supreme Court’s ethics code bans justices from making political statements in order to preserve their impartiality on matters that comes before the court.
Alito said in a statement that the flag was displayed by his wife after an argument with a neighbor.
“I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag,” he said in an emailed statement to the Times. “It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs.”
Unlike Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill) is calling for Alito to recuse himself from Jan. 6 related cases before the court.
“Flying an upside-down American flag — a symbol of the so-called ‘Stop the Steal’ movement — clearly creates the appearance of bias,” Durbin said. “Justice Alito should recuse himself immediately from cases related to the 2020 election and the January 6th insurrection, including the question of the former President’s immunity in U.S. v. Donald Trump, which the Supreme Court is currently considering.”
