Roberts Rebuffs Senate Dems' Invitation to Discuss Ethics, Alito
AlitoRoberts FlagRebuffs ControversySenate Dems' Invitation to Discuss Ethics, Alito
The Facts
US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) Chief Justice John Roberts on Thursday rebuffed Democratic senators' request to have Justice Samuel Alito recuse himself from cases involving the Jan. 6, 2021 riots at the US Capitol and turned down an invitation to speak with those senators about ethics at the Court.
Roberts wrote that justices should continue making their own decisions about recusals, and he would "respectfully decline" meeting with the senators because a "meeting with leaders only of one party" would be "inadvisable."US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) Chief Justice John Roberts on Thursday rebuffed Democratic senators' request to have Justice Samuel Alito recuse himself from cases involving the Jan. 6, 2021 riots at the US Capitol, and turned down an invitation to speak with those senators about ethics at the Court.
The Spin
Roberts was right to shoot down Democrats' invitation. Congressional Democrats have had it in for conservative justices for years, and even used a portion of their letter to Roberts to whine about Justice Clarence Thomas in addition to Alito. Democrats are seemingly never going to quit pursuing these justices over nothing, and Roberts is smart to not indulge them.
Roberts has again proven why he'll probably go down in history as one of the worst chief justices ever. Even if he doesn't deem it wise to meet with Democrats, Roberts could at least take steps to implement strict ethics rules for judges in order to reassure legislators and the public that there won't be any improprieties involving future cases. Instead he continues to stymie every attempt to hold SCOTUS accountable.
