'Take this seriously:' Chief justice gets summons from senators demanding Sam Alito action

Senate Democrats Friday summoned Supreme Court chief John Roberts to explain to them how he plans to address reports of a "Stop the Steal' symbol raised outside Justice Samual Alito's family home.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) demanded a meeting with the chief justice to make their case that Alito should be recused from cases involving the 2020 presidential election and the U.S. Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021.

"By displaying the upside-down and 'Appeal to Heaven' flags outside his homes, Justice Alito actively engaged in political activity, failed to avoid the appearance of impropriety, and failed to act in a manner that promotes public confidence in the impartiality of the judiciary," the Senators wrote.

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"His recusal in these matters is both necessary and required."

The four-page letter was dated Thursday but released on Friday to the public to increase the pressure on Roberts to respond.

Among those who called on Roberts to consider the case for recusing Alito was former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance, who reminded her followers of the chief justice's own ideals regarding integrity.

"If the Chief Justice is concerned about the integrity of SCOTUS as an institution, something... he offered as a reason for taking on the job when he was nominated, " Vance wrote, "then he will meet with the Senators & take this seriously."

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Vance was not the only former court official to express shocked by the upside-down American flag that appeared outside his home.

On Friday, a former federal judge issued a scathing rebuke of Alito's decision-making, which he referred to as improper, and worse, dumb.