Dan Cannon is a resident of Seaford.
All hail to Justice Samuel Alito of the Supreme Court of the United States?
Justice Alito has clearly not adopted the 200-plus-year old beliefs/practices of our forefathers (e.g., George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, etc.) regarding women, particularly married women, in vivid contrast to his widely cited, originalist beliefs/practices when rendering constitutional decisions/opinions/interpretations at the Supreme Court.
Remember that women had few if any actual rights 200-plus-years ago. No right to vote; they could be considered property (depending on their color); they had no legal identity apart from their husbands; they had little/no access to higher education; they were unable to enter professional occupations; etc.
In contrast, Justice Alito clearly has allowed his wife, Martha-Ann Alito, virtually free rein to fly a couple of flags that are associated with right-wing, pro-Trump/“Make America Great Again” political groups at their homes. At the Alito home in January 2021, she flew our American flag upside down. Recently, this has been a symbol of protest in favor of the Jan. 6, 2021, aborted and illegal attempt by Donald Trump/his supporters to thwart certification of the 2020 election results.
Ms. Alito also flew another protest (the “Appeal to Heaven”/“pine tree”) flag at her (by deed) New Jersey beach house. This flag has been “adopted by the ‘Stop the Steal Movement.’” For his part, Justice Alito claims, “I assumed she was flying it to express a patriotic and religious message. I was not aware of any connection between that historic flag and the ‘Stop the Steal Movement,’ and neither was my wife” (The Wall Street Journal, May 30).
As Justice Alito correctly asserts, Martha-Ann Alito is a private citizen and enjoys freedom of speech/expression under the First Amendment, like every other American. However, both she and, especially, Justice Alito realize they are prominent public figures under scrutiny by the American public. Their actions/thoughts influence and are important to millions of citizens.
When Ms. Alito flies an upside-down American flag, people pay attention and ask why. What’s her motivation? Reasonable people also begin to question Justice Alito’s related claims, including that he was unaware of the (upside-down) flag at his home for some time. Moreover, his claim that, legally, joint ownership of their primary residence precluded any steps that he “could have the flag taken down more promptly” (The Wall Street Journal, May 30) sounds distinctly hollow.
Therefore, there is more than one verifiable example of political bias in favor of Donald Trump’s actions/beliefs by Martha-Ann Alito, who is likely the most influential person in Justice Alito’s life. Pair that fact with consistently weak explanations from Justice Alito, such as: “My wife is fond of flying flags. I am not”; “(My wife) was solely responsible for having flagpoles put up”; “I had nothing whatsoever to do with the flying of the flag”; etc.
Justice Alito claims that his wife’s reasons for flying the flag(s) “are not relevant for present purposes” (The Wall Street Journal, May 30). “Present purposes” allude to calls for him to recuse himself from consideration of cases involving Donald Trump, where his “impartiality might reasonably be questioned” — a significant part of the recently published Supreme Court’s code of conduct.
Justice Alito rejects any suggestion(s) that he should recuse himself, while many others like Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., say, “Any unbiased and reasonable person would find laughable Justice Alito’s … defense” (The Wall Street Journal, May 30).
Significantly, at present, Justice Alito alone is responsible for deciding the level of his own impartiality in cases to come before the Supreme Court concerning Donald Trump, whom his wife actively supports. Currently, there is no review by anyone; he cannot be removed from a case by the chief justice or even by the full Supreme Court.
Thus, the impartiality of the court when considering upcoming federal cases involving Donald Trump’s 1.) claims of presidential immunity; 2.) conspiracy to prevent the transition of power after President Joe Biden’s election; and 3.) the withholding/hiding of classified documents has become questionable.
Our confidence in the Supreme Court of the United States would and should be greatly enhanced by the court’s enactment of a written code of conduct provision that provides for recusal of a justice by majority vote of the other justices (with a tie also resulting in recusal).
Regardless, we citizens will be paying very close attention to the actions of the court and expect its members’ decisions to adhere to the basic principle that no one is above the law.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
