Senate Democrats urge John Roberts to meet ‘as soon as possible’ following Samuel Alito mess

WASHINGTON — Top Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee told Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Friday they want to meet with him “as soon as possible” to ensure Justice Samuel Alito recuses himself from cases linked to the 2020 elections, after two recent reports. revealed Alito displayed flags at two separate residences that the Capitol insurrectionists on January 6, 2021 had also carried.

“By flying the upside-down flags and “Call to Heaven” in front of his homes, Justice Alito actively engaged in political activity, failed to avoid the appearance of impropriety, and failed to acted in a manner that promoted public confidence in the impartiality of government. judiciary,” Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) wrote to Roberts in a new letter.

“He also created reasonable doubt about his impartiality and ability to fairly discharge his duties in matters related to the 2020 presidential election and the January 6 attack on the Capitol,” they wrote. “His recusal in these cases is both necessary and demanded.”

(Durbin and Whitehouse are the committee chair and chair of the subcommittee which respectively deals with the federal courts.)

The senators also renewed their call for the Supreme Court to adopt “an enforceable code of conduct for Supreme Court justices.”

The Court currently has a code of ethics, which it adopted last year and only after extensive public scrutiny, but he has no teeth. However, under this code, drawn up by the judges themselves, they are necessary to avoid any appearance of irregularity.

Here is a copy of the senators’ new letter:

Durbin and other Democrats demanded that the Supreme Court issue a binding decisioncode of ethics for years. But they significantly stepped up their calls for action after last year’s bombshell.ProPublica reports that Alito and fellow conservative Justice Clarence Thomas had for years accepted lavish, undisclosed gifts from wealthy political donors.

Democrats also called for passage of a bill, the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act, which would require judges to adopt a binding code of conduct and improve transparency when a judge has ties to a party or amicus in court.

But in a polarized and closely divided Senate, this bill goes nowhere. And although Durbin had the authority to subpoena Alito or other Supreme Court justices to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee to answer ethics questions, he has not done so.

If Durbin attempted to subpoena Alito, he could not do so unilaterally. It would need the committee’s top Republican to approve, which would not happen in this case, nor a majority vote on the committee. It’s unclear whether all 10 Democrats on the committee would vote in favor of the measure.

A spokesperson for Durbin did not respond to a request for comment on whether the committee chairman is prepared to attempt to subpoena Alito if he does not recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election or to the insurrection.

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