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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Ed Pilkington

Red flag? Samuel Alito scandal casts further doubt on supreme court’s impartiality

columned building stylised in red
The justices will rule on two other critical cases that go to the heart of Donald Trump’s fitness to govern, and hence the presidential outcome. Photograph: Douglas Rissing/Getty Images

With less than six months to go before America chooses its next president, the US supreme court finds itself in a profoundly unenviable position: not only has it been drawn into the thick of a volatile election, but swirling ethical scandals have cast doubt on its impartiality.

The US supreme court’s discomfort worsened dramatically on Thursday night when the New York Times published a photograph of an upside-down American flag being flown outside the Alexandria, Virginia, home of the hard-right justice Samuel Alito. The photo was taken on 17 January 2021, days after the insurrection at the US Capitol and days before Joe Biden’s inauguration.

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