WASHINGTON – When controversy erupted over a flag outside the home ofSupreme CourtJustice Samuel Alito, the conservative stalwartrejected calls from criticsthat he recuse himself from cases involving the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Alito said the flag belonged to his wife and was not flown in support of the "Stop the Steal" movement, the false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from PresidentDonald Trump.
But while Alito did not recuse himself, he did give up authorship of thecourt’s opinionthat prosecutors had gone too far in bringing obstruction charges brought against some Capitol rioters, according to a new book.
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After The New York Times broke the flag story in May 2024, Alito told Chief Justice John Roberts it would be better for the court if he did not write that opinion, conservative author Mollie Hemingway writes in“Alito: The Justice Who Reshaped the Supreme Court and Restored the Constitution.”
“Roberts obliged him and took the opinion himself,” Hemingway wrote.
The New York Times first reportedthe switch in September 2024, writing that it wasn’t clear who initiated the change.
Hemingway describes the media’s reaction to the flags as overblown, writing that many Americans “viewed the press’s attacks on Justice Alito as nothing more than a contrivance to delegitimize a conservative Court majority they deplored.”
“Everybody who knew the couple knew that Martha-Ann, a remarkably independent woman, was responsible for the flags,” she wrote.
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Book lands amid retirement speculation
Hemingway’s book is being published as court watchers wonder if Alito – the second-oldest justice – is considering retiring.
Fox News and others havereportedthat Alito won't be stepping down.
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Alito, 76, is coming out with his own book in the fall, right as the court will be starting a new term.
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The publication dateled to speculationthat Alito plans to spend October promoting his book, rather than serving on the court.
But others have pointed out that Alito is likely to sell more copies if he is still a justice when it comes out.
Alito’s book, "So Ordered: An Originalist's View of the Constitution, our Court, and our County," will elaborate on his judicial philosophy and the role of the court in “preserving America’s spirit of liberty,”according to his publisher, Hachette Book Group.
'Disappointed' in colleagues' lack of urgency
A reliable vote for conservative causes since joining the court in 2006, Alito has moved the law to the right on issues ranging from criminal procedure to religious liberty. He authored the landmark decision in June 2022 thatoverturned Roe v. Wadeand ended the constitutional right to abortion.
“It was a crowning achievement for a justice who had attracted less attention than his colleagues,” Hemingway wrote in her laudatory portrayal of Alito.
She describes the justice as being “disappointed by the lack of a sense of urgency in some of his colleagues about censorship and other threats to our constitutional order.”
Anotherbook about Alito, also published this month, describes him as trying to right the wrongs of the past six decades, as he sees them.
“It is a sincere and intelligently wrought theory, but one born of intense feelings of anger and betrayal,” writes author Peter Canellos, Politico’s executive editor. “It seeks to impose what its adherents believe to be right and just from the halcyon memories of their childhoods. And it has rocked the facade of American law in the twenty-first century.”
This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Peter Canellos.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:New Samuel Alito book reveals details on Jan. 6 case, flag controversy
