Flags Outside of Justice Alito's Home Spark Controversy

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Facts

  • Reports that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito displayed the "Appeal to Heaven" flag outside of his New Jersey vacation home have sparked a backlash from Democrats and media outlets who claim that the Revolutionary-era banner is a political symbol of the right.1
  • The New York Times reported on Wednesday that it obtained photographs showing the Pine Tree flag being flown outside Alito’s Long Beach Island home during the summer of 2023, leading critics to associate the flag with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots.2
  • This comes after the Times reported that an upside-down American flag was flown outside Alito’s Virginia home in 2021. The Justice said that his wife, Martha-Ann, displayed the flag after a dispute with a neighbor.3
  • Senate Democrats expressed concerns saying that the white flag showing a green pine tree is a symbol of Christian-minded government that was displayed by Pro-Trump protesters, along with the upside-down flag, during the "Stop the Steal" movement challenging the 2020 election results.4
  • Democrats say that the symbols represent a conflict of interest for Alito, with Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) asking Alito to recuse himself from cases related to former Pres. Donald Trump and the Jan. 6 protests.4
  • The "Appeal to Heaven" flag dates back to the Revolutionary War, and it references a passage by philosopher John Locke that challenged the divine right of kings. The flag is also displayed outside the office of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).5

Sources: 1CBS, 2The New York Times, 3Daily Wire, 4The Hill, and 5Washington Examiner.

Narratives

  • Democratic narrative, as provided by Slate. Just like his far-right legal rulings, Justice Alito's flags show that he is a judicial activist with a scary vision of the US and its Constitution. The upside-down American flag and the "Appeal to Heaven" flag were both prominent symbols of the Jan. 6 insurrection, and the Alitos' embrace of them shows their partisan allegiance to Donald Trump. While Alito may try to claim that the banners have nothing to do with Trump's attempted coup, all circumstantial evidence suggests that he should recuse himself from cases related to Trump and the Jan. 6 insurrection.
  • Republican narrative, as provided by Blaze Media. Democrats and their corporate media allies displayed their ignorance of history with their hysterical reaction to the "Appeal to Heaven" flag displayed outside Justice Alito’s home. Instead of discussing the flag's significance during the founding of the country and its allusion to the words of John Locke, the left is trying to reframe it as a symbol of "insurrection." Like the pine tree adorning it, the "Appeal to Heaven" flag is a symbol of peace that is richly steeped in American history. The left's reaction is woke cancel culture run amok.