Supreme Court Justices Thomas and Alito are abusing their power. They must step aside

To Tennessee U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn:

I am trying to control my disgust with the arrogant behavior of Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.

Most recently, news media outlets have reported that there was a recognized anti-government symbol flown at the home of Justice Alito shortly after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

He claims this was done by his wife who was insulted by a neighbor’s yard sign. What is going on? A Supreme Court justice places an anti-government symbol (or, okay, permits it to be flown) at his home? While at the same time, he’s sitting on a court hearing cases about the former president’s “immunity” and other, related cases.

Justice Thomas’s disdain for ethical behavior is all but advertised in neon over his head. He refuses to recuse himself from cases related to the Jan. 6 insurrection in which his wife took part, from the issue of the former president’s “immunity” from criminal behavior, from ethical rules requiring disclosure of conflicts of interest, gifts, etc.

Justices Thomas, Alito complain about 'nastiness' and 'imperiled' freedom of religion

And that brings me to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who has delayed Trump’s trial on the classified documents. In my former career as a human resources professional, refusing to do one’s job while collecting a paycheck was considered theft of time from one’s employer. Additionally, her suspicion of and presumed bad faith on the part of the current Department of Justice is astounding.

At a time when citizens must rely on the judiciary to help keep the country from descending into lawless chaos, behaviors such as those I have described cause us to lose faith in our system of justice.

As your constituent, because you serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee, I ask you to put some teeth into the ethics requirements of federal judges. I also ask that you support the committee in specifically looking into Justices Thomas’s and Alito’s disregard for professional ethics.

Marcia Meldahl, Powell 37849

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito must step aside