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Chief Justice John Roberts told Senate Democrats that he won’t meet with them to discuss ethics issues involving the Supreme Court, rebuffing mounting concerns about Justice Samuel Alito’s impartiality after reports that flags were flown at his homes that were similar to those carried by Jan. 6 rioters.
In a letter Thursday to Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., the chief justice noted that Alito had responded to their calls for his recusal from two high-stakes cases related to Jan. 6, and pointed to the established practice of justices deciding for themselves whether to recuse.
“I must respectfully decline your request for a meeting,” Roberts wrote, adding that chief justices have met with legislators only on “rare occasions” throughout U.S. history. Roberts also said meeting with leaders of only one party would be “inadvisable.”
Republicans have issued varied lukewarm reactions to the Alito revelations, but none have called for his recusal. Roberts wrote:
Separation of powers concerns and the importance of preserving judicial independence counsel against such appearances. Moreover, the format proposed — a meeting with leaders of only one party who have expressed an interest in matters currently pending before the Court — simply underscores that participating in such a meeting would be inadvisable.
Alito on Wednesday declined to step aside from the Jan. 6 cases. In letters to House and Senate Democrats, he continued to blame his wife for putting up the flags, while defending her right as a private citizen to do so (somewhat ironically, as many pointed out, given his take on women’s right to privacy and personal autonomy in his majority opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade).
Last year, after ProPublica reported that Justice Clarence Thomas had received undisclosed gifts from GOP megadonor Harlan Crow, Roberts similarly declined an invitation to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about ethics issues. As he did in his letter Thursday, Roberts told Democrats at the time that it was “rare” for someone in his position to do so and cited “separation of powers concerns and the importance of preserving judicial independence.”
Roberts’ refusal to meet with Senate Democrats does not come entirely as a surprise. He has taken only limited steps to address ethics concerns about his fellow justices head-on, and he is reportedly even less eager for Congress to get involved in the court’s business. In November, amid questions about the propriety of Thomas’ and Alito’s relationships with GOP donors, the Supreme Court adopted a code of conduct for the first time, albeit one with no enforcement procedure.