“The proposed format – a meeting with leaders of a single party who have expressed interest in the cases currently pending before the Court – simply highlights that participating in such a meeting would be inadvisable,” Roberts told Durbin and Whitehouse, who oversee federal courts. in their respective roles as chairs of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a judicial oversight subcommittee.
The chief justice’s communication follows Alito’s rejection a day earlier of calls for his recusal from two major days in January. 6 Supreme Court related cases. Dozens of Democrats and some legal experts questioned whether Alito could avoid any appearance of bias after reports of flags being displayed by rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol in January. 6, 2021.
Democrats asked Roberts to guarantee that Alito would not participate in the trial of these cases, which the court is expected to rule on in the coming weeks. One concerns whether former President Donald Trump could be criminally prosecuted. for his efforts to remain in office after losing the 2020 election; Another asks whether the Justice Department can use an obstruction charge to prosecute more than 300 Jan. 6 rioters.
Although Roberts holds the title of chief and presides over the high court and federal judiciary, his power over his fellow judges is quite limited. He did not address the flag controversy in his Thursday letter, instead noting that each judge decides whether to disqualify himself and that he has followed this practice for 235 years. There is no process for appealing a judge’s decision.
Democrats in the House and Senate have supported legislation that would impose stricter ethics policies on the Supreme Court, including an independent enforcement and oversight mechanism. Republicans oppose the measure, saying the effort is motivated by political opposition to the Court’s conservative supermajority.
A spokesperson for Durbin refuted Roberts’ assertion that it would be inappropriate for the judge to meet with members of Congress.
“Rather, President Durbin’s sole interest – as has been the case since he first raised this issue with the Chief Justice 12 years ago – is to restore the credibility of the Court in the eyes of the American people,” panelist Emily Hampsten said in a speech. statement, adding that Durbin would continue to push for legislation establishing an enforceable code of conduct for judges.
Alito said this week that both flags were raised by his wife, Martha-Ann Alito. In the weeks following January. During the September 6 attack, an upside-down American flag was flown in front of the couple’s home in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County, Virginia. The overturned flag, historically used as a sign of distress by the US military, had become a symbol of the “Stop the Steal” movement, which falsely claims the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.
In an unusual letter to his partners Wednesday, Alito wrote that his wife’s reasons for raising the flag “are not relevant to current needs.” He also noted his distress at the time “was due, in large part, to a very unpleasant neighborhood dispute,” which he said involved an anti-Trump sign in a backyard.
A second flag emblazoned with the words “Call to Heaven,” adopted by Christian nationalists who want to give religion a greater place in public life, was flown outside the couple’s vacation home in New Jersey last summer .
In Alito’s letter, the judge said he was “not aware of any connection between this historic flag and the ‘Stop the Steal’ movement, and neither is my wife.”
Martha-Ann Alito “did not fly it to associate with this or any other group,” the judge wrote, “and the use of an old, historic flag by a new group does not necessarily void this flag with a completely different meaning.
The federal disqualification law that applies to all judges and judges requires that a judge “disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality could reasonably be doubted” or “when he has bias or prejudice personal towards a party”.
The court’s new code of conduct, adopted in November in response to ethical controversies, separately prohibits judges from engaging in political activities and directs them to “act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.
The code calls on judges to recuse themselves in cases in which “the impartiality of the judge could reasonably be doubted, that is, when an impartial and reasonable person, aware of all the relevant circumstances, would doubt that the judge can fairly discharge his functions.”
While ethics experts believe that displaying politically charged symbols outside a judge’s home is enough to create an appearance of bias, Alito has a different assessment of the code’s requirements.
“I am satisfied that a reasonable person who is not motivated by political or ideological considerations or by the desire to influence the outcome of Supreme Court cases would conclude that the facts recounted above do not meet the standards applicable in matters of recusal”, indicates his letter.