Justice Alito's Jan. 6 flag problem grows

"Appeal to Heaven" flag flying amid U.S. and Trump flags at U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — Judges are not supposed to give any impression of bias or partisanship

(Image credit: Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

What happened

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, already facing criticism over an upside-down U.S. flag flown outside his Virginia home in January 2021, had another flag popular with Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol rioters displayed at his New Jersey beach house last summer, The New York Times said Wednesday. Alito said last week his wife had raised the inverted flag amid political arguments with neighbors and he "had no involvement whatsoever." He declined to comment on the "Appeal to Heaven" flag flown outside his beach house.

Who said what

The Revolutionary War–era white-and-evergreen "Appeal to Heaven" flag had fallen "into obscurity" until it was recently adopted by Christian nationalists supporting Donald Trump and a "religious strand of the 'Stop the Steal' campaign" to keep him in office after he lost, the Times said. "Judges are not supposed to give any impression of bias" or partisanship.

"At this point it is difficult to make any reasonable case for Alito's impartiality," Noah Bookbinder, the president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said to The Associated Press. At minimum, "he must not sit on cases about the 2020 election or the insurrection he appears to have supported."

What next?

Just as fellow conservative Justice Clarence Thomas "has ignored calls to recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election" because his wife tried to help overturn the results, "there has been no indication Alito would step aside from the cases," the AP said. "Public trust in the Supreme Court, meanwhile, recently hit its lowest point in at least 50 years."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.