Chief Justice John Roberts on Thursday rejected a request by Democratic senators to meet to discuss allegations about ethics at the Supreme Court, suggesting it would be unwise to meet only with members of one party.
Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island have called on Justice Samuel Alito to recuse himself from cases involving the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 trial following two New York Times reports about the flag flying on the judge’s property. Asked The Supreme Court invited Chief Justice Roberts to meet on May 23 to discuss “additional steps to address the Court’s ethics crisis.” Chief Justice Roberts told senators he must “politely decline” the request to meet, citing separation of powers concerns and the importance of judicial independence, but suggested it would be “unwise” to meet only with members of one political party.
“With regard to questions about a justice’s involvement in a pending case, the Supreme Court justices recently reaffirmed their 235-year-old practice of individual justices deciding recusal issues,” Roberts wrote, referring to the ethics rules the court adopted in November 2023. (Related: Justice Alito orders Democrats to argue, rejects recusal in J6 case)
“My understanding is that Justice Alito sent you a letter addressing this issue,” he continued.
In a letter Wednesday, Sen. Alito rejected calls from two Democratic senators to resign, noting that an upside-down American flag temporarily flown outside their home and a Revolutionary War-era “Appeal to Heaven” flag temporarily flown at a vacation home were both flown by his wife, a private citizen “entitled to the same First Amendment rights as all other Americans.”
“Any reasonable person not motivated by political or ideological considerations or a desire to influence the outcome of the Supreme Court’s decisions would conclude that the events in this case do not meet the applicable test for recusal,” Justice Alito wrote Wednesday.
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 07: United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts poses for his official portrait in the Supreme Court Building East Conference Room in Washington, DC on October 7, 2022. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Alito reiterated that his wife had hung the upside-down flag as a sign of distress after a “nasty neighborhood dispute” that he was not involved in. A neighbor had berated his wife “using foul language” and a house down the street had put up “signs personally attacking her,” Alito wrote.
“This is a rare occasion in the history of our nation that a sitting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has met with members of both major parties, even in a public forum, such as a committee hearing, where members of both major parties are present,” Roberts said, referring to his response when he declined to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee in April 2023. He took issue with the format of the senators’ latest proposal.
“Furthermore, the proposed format — a meeting only with leaders of one party who have expressed an interest in matters currently before the Court — only underscores the unwise nature of participating in such meetings,” Roberts continued.
Roberts also sent the letter to Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana.
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