Sen. Richard J. Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, renewed calls for a code of ethics for the Supreme Court after Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. rejected his recusal requests.
The Illinois Democrat had requested a meeting with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. over allegations that Justice Alito flew flags as political symbols.
He said Justice Alito must recuse himself from one case involving a charge against Jan. 6 defendants and another on whether former President Trump is immune from criminal prosecution in a case stemming from his contest of the 2020 election results.
The recusal request came after The New York Times reported Justice Alito flew an upside-down U.S. flag outside his house in 2021 days after Jan. 6, suggesting it was a political symbol.
“At the end of the day, the Chief Justice can end this spiraling decline in America’s confidence in our highest Court by taking decisive action to establish a credible code of conduct. I will continue to pursue what the American people are demanding: accountability, transparency, and an enforceable code of conduct for Supreme Court justices,” Mr. Durbin said.
The high court did issue a code of conduct last year, which all nine justices signed, but critics have said there is no body or board to enforce the code and hold each justice accountable.
In a letter to Congress earlier in the day on Wednesday, Justice Alito said the flying of an upside-down U.S. flag and “An Appeal to Heaven” pennant at his homes were his wife’s decisions and that they are not proof of bias in any dispute.
“My wife is fond of flying flags. I am not. My wife was solely responsible for having flagpoles put up at our residence and our vacation home and has flown a wide variety of flags over the years,” he said in his letter to Mr. Durbin.
“My wife is an independently minded private citizen. She makes her own decisions, and I honor her right to do so,” he added. “A reasonable person who is not motivated by political or ideological considerations or a desire to affect the outcome of Supreme Court cases would conclude that this event does not meet the applicable standard for recusal. I am therefore duty bound to reject your recusal request.”
Justice Alito’s letter came after The New York Times reported that he had flown the upside-down flag in 2021 at his residence in Alexandria, Virginia, and then that he flew an “Appeal to Heaven” flag at his Long Beach Island, New Jersey, vacation home in 2023.
The newspaper called the flag, which dates from the American Revolution, a symbol for “a more Christian-minded government” and said it was carried on Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol.
In his letter to members of Congress, Justice Alito noted that he didn’t know of a connection between the “Stop the Steal Movement” and the “Appeal to Heaven” flag.
Democratic lawmakers have called it a public display of political activity, which would run afoul of judicial ethics. One House Democrat introduced a censure resolution that demands that the justice recuse himself from any case related to the 2020 election.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.