Chief Justice dismisses Democratic senators’ request for meeting on Alito flag flap

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts rejected an invitation from two Democratic senators to discuss ethics on the court as well as the controversy surrounding Justice Samuel Alito and the controversial flags flown at his homes.

“I must respectfully decline your request for a meeting… apart from ceremonial events, only on rare occasions in our Nation’s history has a sitting Chief Justice met with legislators,” he wrote. “Separation of powers concerns and the importance of preserving judicial independence counsel against such appearances.”

On Wednesday, Alito sent a letter to the senators as well as to House members telling them that he wouldn’t recuse himself from cases concerning former President Donald Trump and the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.

Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that an upside-down American flag favored by election deniers was flown outside the home of Justice Alito in Alexandria, Virginia, in January 2021. The justice said his wife had flown the flag amid a neighborhood dispute.

Another flag used by Capitol rioters, known as “an appeal to heaven” flag, was seen outside Alito’s New Jersey beach house.

Alito wrote that he found that the flags, which he said had been flown by his wife, didn’t mean that he had to recuse himself. He noted that she had been unaware of the “appeal to heaven” flag’s connection to the insurrection.

Democratic Senators Dick Durbin and Sheldon Whitehouse wrote to Roberts a week ago to request the meeting and that Roberts take measures to push Alito to recuse himself from any cases reaching the Supreme Court that concern the January 6 riot or former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

Judge Roberts wrote to Durbin and Whitehouse