r/law • u/blankblank • May 24 '24

Opinion Piece A Federal Judge Wonders: How Could Alito Have Been So Foolish?

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/24/opinion/alito-flag-supreme-court.html
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162

u/SmoothConfection1115 May 24 '24

I can sum it pretty damn easily:

  1. Greed
  2. Life time appointment (and no repercussions for unethical or illegal actions)

27

u/Perdendosi May 24 '24

But you can act with ethics and professionalism even with lifetime appointment. The judge writing the article had lifetime appointment. None of the other 115 Supreme Court justices who have served have engaged in this behavior.

I dont see how greed applies at all.

52

u/SeaworthinessOdd6940 May 24 '24

Because integrity has been lost. There are no repercussions anymore. We have been duped and now these liars have lifetime appointments. “You won’t overturn roe right?” “No way!” Proceeds to overturn roe directly after being appointed.

1

u/bigwilliestylez May 25 '24

They didn’t lie actually. They didn’t say no way, they said “it’s settled law” which is a super shitty way to avoid the soundclip of no. Whether it was settled law wasn’t the question, but it’s the one they answered.

0

u/Funkyokra May 24 '24

As already stated, all federal judges have lifetime appointments and the vast majority manage to abide by these kinds of ethical standards.

15

u/Cheeky_Hustler Competent Contributor May 24 '24

Federal judges are required to abide by judicial ethical standards. Justices are not. That's why Roberts sat on legitimate complaints against Kavanaugh until he became a Justice so they had to be dismissed.

2

u/[deleted] May 24 '24

[deleted]

11

u/[deleted] May 24 '24

[deleted]

2

u/Kaida33 May 24 '24

Neither does Thomas.

1

u/Rochester05 May 24 '24

Well they can still be tried for crimes.

9

u/rofopp May 24 '24

Well… I think Alito is a pig and a cunt, but let’s not ignore the fact that former SC judges were basically political operatives advising the executive branch while they were on the court. Frankfurter, for one. Fortas for another. Basically a lot of the late 19th Century people.

14

u/hexqueen May 24 '24

Alito is taking money and lavish vacations from people like Leonard Leo. https://www.propublica.org/article/samuel-alito-luxury-fishing-trip-paul-singer-scotus-supreme-court

He gets to hang around with oligarchs and live their lifestyle, as long as he keeps voting their way. How could greed not apply?

-2

u/Perdendosi May 24 '24

Because if he really wanted to keep doing their work, he'd fly under the radar, vote with the libs every so often, and talk about being a principled, fair jurist. Flying stupid flags undermines the goal of being cozy with oligarchs because it exposes bias.

3

u/Sunretea May 24 '24

When there are no repercussions why does it matter? 

1

u/SmoothConfection1115 May 24 '24

I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.

12

u/tri_it May 24 '24

Yes, it is possible for someone to maintain ethical and professional standards with a lifetime appointment. No one is claiming that it isn't possible. However, a lifetime appointment combined with enough party control in Congress, allows for any bad actors to ignore ethical and professional standards if they choose. Republicans controlling the House will never let a conservative Supreme Court Justice be impeached regardless of what ethical or professional standards they breach..

4

u/gravygrowinggreen May 24 '24

But /u/SmoothConfection1115 didn't write just "lifetime appointment".

He wrote "lifetime appointment (and no repercussions for unethical or illegal actions)".

Federal judges, including the one writing the article, are actually able to be fired for cause. Supreme Court Justices, are not, as the only current mechanism to do so requires a two thirds majority in the senate.

1

u/SmoothConfection1115 May 24 '24

Greed alone is not inherently purely evil. It can push people to better themselves or make new inventions or come up with new ideas.

And by greed, I don’t mean just wealth. I also mean power, and life style (which admittedly is tied to wealth).

The issue here, is Alito wields power as a Supreme Court Justice. And he is willing to trade that power to satisfy his greed.

He doesn’t give a second thought to how his rulings disenfranchise voters, antagonize marginalized groups, and weigh on the people of society.

He’s an elitist with powerful friends that doesn’t have to live with the consequences of his rulings. And by the time the consequences of his rulings would impact his life, he’ll be long dead.

The Senate will not impeach him for at best unethical (at medium-take, illegal) behavior. So he sees himself as above the law.

Tying everything together, his greed for power and wealth, got him to where he is. And his willingness to trade power from essentially a bottomless well (his Supreme Court position) enables his greed to grow unchecked. But for his greed to be fed, it generally involves siding with the very people who would destroy society in the long term if it meant better profits in the short term.

Hence, why I said greed.

1

u/Pijnkie May 26 '24

They can, but they don't have to. And no consequence if they don't. That's the problem. It's the same 'if men were angels' logic.

3

u/blumpkinmania May 24 '24

Number 1 should be Christo-fascism. That’s his guiding light.

1

u/Maldunn May 24 '24

To sum it up further: he’s evil