Nine days after The New York Times reported about the political symbolism of an upside-down American flag that flew at U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s home, the Washington Post acknowledged it had the same story more than three years ago and decided not to publish it.
The Post’s story was both an extraordinary example of journalistic introspection and an illustration of how coverage of the Supreme Court has changed since the incident itself, shortly after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.
That day, some of the demonstrators who marched in support of former President Donald Trump carried the upside-down flag. Both newspapers reported that the same symbol was displayed outside of Alito’s home in Fairfax County, Virginia, before President Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Alito has said that his wife, Martha-Ann Alito, raised the flag as part of a dispute with neighbors who had placed “personally insulting” yard signs directed at them. Judges traditionally avoid partisan symbols to maintain the appearance of neutrality in political disputes that may come before them.
For journalists, it raises a question: Should a public official’s family be held to the same standards as that official themselves?
While I don’t think this absolves the Justice of his responsibility; his wife has her own unique rights to free speech.
Do I think the Justice should suffer consequences for the speech? Hell no.
Do I think it makes him look bad and possibly highly biased? Hell yes.
Does he have to care what my opinion is? No.
Sorry… you don’t think justices should recuse themselves when they demonstrate an obvious bias when it comes to upcoming cases?
And I don’t have to care that Alito and his wife are clearly liars when they claim she put it up in response to a dispute when the photo of the flag is dated January 17th and the ostensible dispute didn’t actually happen until February 15th, nearly a month later.
But sure, let’s just let em lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie
“Oops.”