« Jimmy Carter and the courts | Main | Roberts to Court critics: Be nice, be truthful, and listen to what we say »
Monday, December 30, 2024
Sometimes Judges Apologize; Mostly, they do not
Good morning, everyone. My new essay for The Hill is about judges’ apologies. You’ll never guess who didn’t give one.
Here is the gist:
‘Flag-gate’ led one jurist to issue an apology, but it wasn’t Samuel Alito
by Steven Lubet, opinion contributor
Everyone makes mistakes, including judges. Sometimes they acknowledge it. Mostly, they don’t.
A commendable example of the former is senior U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor, who published an opinion essay in the New York Times in May criticizing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s involvement in what is sometimes called “Flag-gate.” Although Ponsor’s criticism was entirely sensible, he subsequently apologized for going beyond the “proper boundaries” for commentary by a sitting judge. Alito himself has not been so forthcoming, at least in part due to the absence of a formal process for reviewing the ethics of a justice’s conduct.
The contrast with Ponsor reveals more than Alito’s thin skin. His irate reaction to the Democrats’ recusal request amounted to a partisan counterattack. In a less indignant response, Alito would have at least allowed the possibility of misinterpretation or misunderstanding — occurring before he revealed his wife’s role — with his political resentments omitted.
It would probably be too much to expect the notably combative Alito to acknowledge that waving an upside-down flag in January 2021 was at best an unfortunate coincidence, much less to apologize for creating an appearance of identification with the Capitol mob. Without a formal process, however, it is impossible even to request it.
You can read the entire piece at The Hill.
Posted by Steve Lubet on December 30, 2024 at 11:06 AM | Permalink
Comments
The comments to this entry are closed.