First it was Mrs. Alito’s day-long flying of an upside-down American flag that Democrats said required Justice Samuel Alito to recuse from the pending Supreme Court cases involving Jan. 6 defendants and Trump’s appeal concerning presidential immunity. Less than a week later, Democrats pounced on the news that an Appeal to Heaven flag hung outside the Alitos’ beach house. Clearly, the conservative justice must now recuse in the high-profile cases, the corrupt media declared, parroting their Democrat pals.
On the contrary, there is no basis for Justice Alito to recuse. And the only thing clear is how insane the efforts to target the Supreme Court justice have become.
As I explained last week, based on my years researching the federal codes of conduct, Mrs. Alito’s flying of an upside-down American flag raised no ethical issues for Justice Alito. The Code of Conduct for Justices (as the codes of conduct that apply to federal judges and judicial employees), does not govern spouses, and a judge’s only obligation is to disassociate himself or herself from his or her partner’s political activities. Justice Alito did that when the story broke, making clear he had nothing to do with the flag.
Whether Justice or Mrs. Alito flew the Appeal to Heaven flag is currently unknown — but also completely irrelevant.
Notwithstanding the concerted effort by politicians and the press to portray the flag as a symbol of “Stop the Steal,” or Jan. 6, 2021, there was nothing inherently political about displaying the Appeal to
