Judge Michael Ponsor pans 'dumb' Justice Samuel Alito for 'improper' US flag display post-Capitol riots

WASHINGTON, DC: Michael Ponsor, a federal judge has spoken out against Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for his "improper" and "dumb" actions of flying the flag upside down outside his home in the weeks after US Capitol riots of January 6, 2021.

Ponsor was appointed to the Massachusetts federal court district by former president Bill Clinton. He made his views clear amid a huge backlash Alito is facing from Democrats.

Michael Ponsor to Samuel Alito: 'Flying flag in that way...shouldn’t have happened'

Senate Democrats are waging a public battle with Alito. They are questioning his impartiality after it was revealed that an upside-down American flag flew outside his home after January 6, 2021, and President Joe Biden’s inauguration.

Alito is also important as he is the judge tasked with determining the future of former president Donald Trump's federal election interference case.

Alito and his fellow panelists are expected to rule this summer on Trump's claim that "presidential immunity" protects him from felony charges that he conspired to overturn the 2020 election, according to Raw Story. 

Now calls are mounting for Alito to recuse himself from any cases related to the US Capitol riots. 

"The fact is that, regardless of its legality, displaying the flag in that way, at that time, shouldn’t have happened," Ponsor wrote in a New York Times editorial.

Michael Ponsor says Samuel Alito flying the flag upside down is 'dumb and improper'

Ponsor further wrote that he was not offering any opinion as to whether the flag display, used by January 6 rioters, at the justice’s house, was "unlawful" but that it, according to Ponsor, was "improper."

"To put it bluntly, any judge with reasonable ethical instincts would have realized immediately that flying the flag then and in that way was improper. And dumb," Ponsor further wrote. 

One more report had detailed how Alito flew an “Appeal To Heaven” flag at his New Jersey vacation home last year, a Revolutionary War-era symbol also flown by religious conservatives and some rioters on January 6.

Also known as the Pine Tree flag, it is sometimes used as a symbol of support for Trump and religious conservatism generally and was used by members of the 'Stop the Steal' movement, which challenged the results of the 2020 election won by Biden, according to Forbes.

Ponsor wrote, "Like the upside-down flag, this flag is viewed by a great many people as a banner of allegiance on partisan issues that are or could be before the court." 

"Courts work because people trust judges. Taking sides in this way erodes that trust," he further opined.

"Did Justice Alito and his wife discuss the issue about the upside-down flag before it went up? I don’t know, of course. But I do know they should have," he wrote further. 

He said he hasn't seen a judge "no matter who appointed her or him, who has engaged or would engage in conduct like that."

"Flying those flags was tantamount to sticking a 'Stop the steal' bumper sticker on your car," he wrote. "You just don’t do it."

Internet reacts to Michael Ponsor's remarks over Samuel Alito flying US flag upside down

Users on X think that it is a known fact that what Alito did was wrong but some Republican allies oppose it.

"Don’t have to be a federal judge to know it’s a bad decision for a scotus justice to hang an American flag upside down for any reason," one X user wrote. 

"I asked that same question too even though I'm not a judge," wrote another.

"Democrats waved flags in congress of other nations and hate patriotism displayed by anyone that doesn't agree with them. So just stop with the harassing of a Supreme Court Justice," one wrote in favor of Alito.

The user also lashed out at Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, and advised, that he "needs to be ignored over making something out of nothing."

"His silence says he was all in on it. Unethical and corrupt. Should disqualify anyone," wrote one more. 

"How stupid! I never talk to my wife about displaying flags at my house. Do you?" asked one.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.