U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was quick to blame his wife when it was discovered that a MAGA symbol was displayed in the justice's front yard as the high court was considering an election case, but that excuse doesn't hold water, according to a federal courts insider.
Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance broached the subject on her Civil Discourse Substack blog Thursday evening. She highlighted the recent controversy, which saw an upside down flag flying in the Supreme Court justice's yard during a critical period of consideration.
"Here’s what I did not anticipate: that in January of 2021—for several days around January 17th, to be precise, both after the insurrection on the sixth and while the Supreme Court was still considering whether to hear an election-related case—the inverted flag associated with the 'Stop the Steal' movement was flying on a flagpole on Justice Alito’s lawn," Vance wrote.
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The former prosecutor, whose husband and father-in-law were both judges and who counts several judges among her close friends, then turned to Alito's excuse for the MAGA symbol.
"We know it’s true because Justice Alito blamed his wife when asked," Vance said. "As though a sitting Supreme Court Justice, upon pulling up to his home and seeing the flag, wouldn’t immediately take it down and say, 'Honey, I understand your feelings, but as a Justice on the United States Supreme Court, I must avoid even the appearance of impropriety, and that flag conveys a political sentiment that is an affront to the rule of law I’m sworn to uphold, especially after rioters carrying it swarmed the Capitol a week and a half ago.'"
She further said she has "spent a good bit of time in my life around Judges."
"My Father-in-Law was a federal judge, my Husband was a state court judge, and I have a number of close friends on the bench. I am certain that none of their spouses or other family members would have even considered placing a political symbol like this in their front yard because they would have understood the rules, just like I did," the ex-prosecutor wrote.
