Supreme Court

The Hill - Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) argued that the Department of Justice (DOJ) could force the recusals of Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito in cases it is facing related to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack. “Everyone assumes that nothing can be done about the recusal situation because the highest court in the land has the lowest ethical standards — no binding ethics code or process outside of personal reflection,” the Maryland Democrat said in an opinion piece in The New York Times published Wednesday. “Each justice decides for him- or herself whether he or she can be impartial.” Raskin then noted that Alito and Thomas “could choose to recuse themselves,” but that “begging them to do the right thing misses a far more effective course of action.” “The U.S. Department of Justice — including the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, an appointed U.S. special counsel and the solicitor general, all of whom were involved in different ways in the criminal prosecutions underlying these cases and are opposing Mr. Trump’s constitutional and statutory claims — can petition the other seven justices to require Justices Alito and Thomas to recuse themselves not as a matter of grace but as a matter of law,” Raskin continued.

NPR -  Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has declined to recuse himself from two cases related to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Members of Congress called for his recusal after news reports said two flags linked to Trump supporters who falsely believe the 2020 election was stolen were flown outside of his homes. Democratic lawmakers argue that the flags meant he would be unable to be impartial in the cases. Alito said it was his wife’s decision to fly both flags, adding that neither he nor his wife was aware of the modern political connotations associated with them.