US

A flag reading ‘Appeal to Heaven,’ was flown by some of the Capitol attackers on January 6, 2021 Virginia justices's house. This same flag was seen flying over Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's home last summer, the New York Times reported on Wednesday (May 22).

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The second flag, which is a symbol for a religious strand of the “Stop the Steal” campaign, was raised over Alito's New Jersey vacation home in July and September of 2023, the NYT report said.

The Times had previously reported that an upside-down American flag flew over the house of Virginia justices in January of 2021.

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Alito told the Times his wife, Martha-Ann Alito, raised the inverted flag in response to a dispute with a neighbor and he “had no involvement whatsoever."

Alito declined to respond to questions about the beach house flag.

A spokesperson for the Supreme Court did not immediately respond to a request for comments on the latest episode.

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The high court is deliberating on two cases concerning former President Donald Trump and his supporters' attempts to overturn the election results. These decisions will impact the criminal election interference charges currently pending against Trump.

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Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who heads the Senate Judiciary Committee, renewed his call for Alito to recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 insurrection.

"This episode will further erode public faith in the court," Durbin said in a statement in which he also urged Chief Justice John Roberts to add an enforcement mechanism to the court's ethics code.

Durbin has been advocating for Congress to enforce stricter ethics rules on the court, supported by an enforcement process, but has faced opposition from Republicans. 

Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has displayed the flag outside his congressional office.

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The Freedom from Religion Foundation calls the flag a "sectarian symbol that indicates government endorsement of Christianity."

Delivering the commencement address at a Catholic University this month, Alito said that the freedom of religion is "imperiled."

(With inputs from agencies)