Less than six months before the next presidential election, the US Supreme Court faces serious questions about its fairness due to ethical concerns.
The situation worsened when the New York Times published a photo of an upside-down American flag outside Justice Samuel Alito’s home in Virginia.
The photo was taken on January 17, 2021, right after the Capitol riots and before Joe Biden’s inauguration.
At that time, upside-down flags were a symbol of Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
Seeing this symbol at a Supreme Court Justice’s home is alarming, especially since Alito could influence the 2024 election.
Gabe Roth from Fix the Court, a group pushing for court reforms, said the flag incident might make people doubt the court’s fairness in future cases.
The Supreme Court has a history of impacting elections, like in 2000 with Bush v. Gore. This year, it has already decided Trump can stay on the ballot despite his role in the January 6 attack.
Two more key cases about Trump are expected by June. The first case will decide if Trump has presidential immunity for his actions related to the 2020 election.
The second will determine if January 6 rioters, and possibly Trump, can be charged under certain laws.
The court might face more election-related issues in November if there are close results in key states, while Justice Alito himself warned that more insurrections could happen.
Ethical questions were already a concern for the Supreme Court, especially about Justice Clarence Thomas, whose wife was involved in efforts to stop Biden’s certification. Now, with the Alito incident, two justices face scrutiny over their spouses’ political activities.
Alito denied involvement with the flag, blaming it on a dispute his wife had with neighbours.
Some legal experts like Professor Stephen Gillers from NYU, believe Alito’s explanation, but others see the flag incident as damaging to the court’s reputation.
Gillers noted that the optics of the flag are atrocious, stating, “It’s obviously so damaging to the court, whose reputation is already suffering.”
Moreso, the Supreme Court recently adopted an ethics code requiring justices to avoid cases where they have a personal bias. This could apply to Alito and Thomas due to their wives’ actions.
However, justices decide for themselves if they need to step aside, leading to few recusals and ongoing ethical concerns.
Roth doubts that Alito and Thomas will recuse themselves from relevant cases, leaving many worried about the court’s impartiality in the upcoming election.
