Democrats in the House of Representatives demand answers from Chief Justice Roberts on Alito and SCOTUS ethics rules

House Democrats sent a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts demanding he answer questions about whether the Supreme Court will enforce their ethics rules on Alito.

Read: Samuel Alito Is The Insurrectionist Threat To Democracy On The Supreme Court

House Judiciary Committee member Jerry Nadler (D-NY) wrote to Roberts:

The Supreme Court Code of Conduct was adopted on November 13, 2023 ‘to set forth
concise and collect in one place the ethical rules and principles that guide the behavior of the organization
Members of the Court.†Canon explicitly states that “A judge may not…in public
support or oppose a candidate for public office.†Furthermore, Canon 3(B)(2) makes that clear
“A judge must disqualify himself in a proceeding that compromises the judge’s impartiality
can reasonably be questioned, that is, when an impartial and reasonable person is aware
of all relevant circumstances would doubt whether the judge could fairly dismiss him or her
duties.â€

Judge Alito appears to have broken both rules. By allowing the inverted flag
to be flown out of his home for several days, Judge Alito appeared to express his support for a
candidate who is still running for office today. Additionally, reports indicate that the January 17
The 2021 incident may be part of a broader pattern of similarly unethical behavior.

Any reasonable person who knows that Judge Alito has repeatedly and publicly expressed his support for the former president — including in the immediate aftermath of the attack on the Capitol — would
rightly question his ability to remain impartial in all cases involving Donald Trump.

And yet Judge Alito has continued to hear cases involving Donald Trump. The Supreme Court issued its per curiam decision in Trump v. Anderson on March 4, 2024, without any dissent from Justice Alito.
He was also present for oral arguments in the case of Trump v. United States, which will decide whether and to what extent presidents are immune from criminal prosecution. The decision in this case will have a far-reaching impact, with the former president facing 91 state and federal felony charges. And then there are the cases that are yet to come. When Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, he filed more than 60 cases in courts across the country.

Since there is no reason to believe that he will behave differently if he loses again in 2024, it is possible that the Supreme Court will once again decide the fate of our country. In the statement of the Court, published as a preamble to the Code of Conduct, you wrote: “The absence of a Code” has led in recent years to the misunderstanding that the judges of this Court, unlike all other lawyers in this country, consider themselves as unconstrained by ethical rules.

Adopting a code of ethics was intended to correct that misunderstanding, but adopting a code of ethics was intended to correct that misunderstanding
Failure to adhere to the code of ethics and enforce it only serves to reinforce the perception of the Supreme Court
Judges operate without consequences for clearly unethical behavior.

Democrats appear to be doing everything they can to draw attention to the conservative Supreme Court’s refusal to hold itself accountable. Alito has refused calls to recuse himself from the next 1/6 cases.
The Democrats in the House of Representatives want answers, and while Roberts may be able to keep the Democrats at bay for now, if the Democrats win back the majority in the House of Representatives, it seems increasingly likely that examining the behavior of the conservative majority of the Supreme Court will be a priority.

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