Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine( at a Meetig on Maine Vet Homelessness at Hanaford Hall, USM, Portland, Earlier This Year.
“Bans Off Our Bodies” is an Acrylic by High School Student Kayla Atkinson. It Depicts The Lack of Trust that Most Americans Have for the US Supreme Court Under Justice Roberts Follwoing the Reversal of Roe vs. Wade Last Year. The American Flag is Torn Apart and There are Storm Clouds Above the Supreme Court Building in Washington, DC.
The Supreme Court of the US Continues to Lose Public Respect with the News of Justice Alito’s Upside Down American Flag in His Front Yard in Alexandria, VA and the Discovery of a Second Provocative Flag at his Smmer Home in New Jersey.
Yesterday Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-lst ME) and dozens of her colleagues sent a letter to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito asking him to reuse himself from any further participation in the case of Trump vs. United States and any other cases related to the January 6, 2021, insurrection and the 2020 General Election. This comes on the heels of disturbing reporting by
“The New York Times” yesterday that Justice Alito flew an inverted flag – a well known sympol of the “Stop the Steal” movement at his Alexandria, Virginia home.
Today there has been a second report by the same newspaper of Justice Alito flying a similarly provocative flag at his summer home in Long Beach Island, New Jersey. It’s a flag adodpted by the Januay 6 rioters at the US Capitol in Washington, DC.
“Even if you had no involvement in the display yourself, the fact of such a political statement at your home creates, at minimum, the appearance of improperly political bias,” the Members of Congress wrote in yesterday’s letter to Justice Alito.
“Currently, there are two cases before the Court involving January 6 rioters and the felony charge of obstructing an official proeeding: the former president claim that a president of the US has absolute criminal immunity for any official acts (Trump vs. United States), and another case involving January 6 rioters (Fischer v United States),” they continued. “Reasonable people will doubt that you can be impartial in decding whether Mr. Trump should face criminal prosecution for his actions arising from the “Stop the Stal” movement. Accordinglly, this indisputable appearance of a conflict of interest requires that you recuse yourself from these two cases. Reasonable people will doubt that you can be impartial in deciding whether Mr. Trump should face criminal prosecution for his actions arising from the “Stop the Steal” movement.
“Undoubtedly, public trust and confidence in the Supreme Cout is in shambles, which jeopardizes our demmocracy and the Rule of Law upon which it is based. And given that your decisions in Trump and Fischer will profoundly affect the future of a past and potentially future President, and of democracy itself, it is essential that the Court attempt to bolster the public’s trust in the integrity of the Court.”
The office of the thin-skinned Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) did not respond to a request from this blogger for a comment whether or not Justice Alito should recuse himself from these two cases. Some believe that the Senator does not announce her position on issues of the day because she is too sensitive to accept the criticism that can come from her controversial decisions. Makes sense to this blogger based on her refusal to appar in public forums in her southern Maine district.
This eveing in a cable news interview on CNN, Ted Cruz (R-TX) said he thought that too much was beng made by Democrats of these flag flying incidents. However, other cable news lawys on MSNBC are charging that these provocative flag flyings by Justice Alito are messages to the legal system and others of his support for the “Stop the Steal” movement and for his support for Trump’s immunity from prosecution.