Judge violated code of conduct with critical Alito op-ed: Ruling 

A federal judge apologized after he was found to have violated the judiciary’s code of conduct for publishing an op-ed earlier this year criticizing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito over a flag controversy.

U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor in May wrote that the decision to fly an upside-down American flag outside of the conservative justice’s home “shouldn’t have happened” and was “dumb.” 

“For these violations of the Code, unintentional at the time but clear in retrospect, I offer my unreserved apology and my commitment to scrupulously avoid any such transgression in the future,” Ponsor, an appointee of former President Clinton, wrote in his apology. 

The apology was made public Tuesday by The Article III Project, a conservative legal group founded by an ally of President-elect Trump that filed a judicial complaint against Ponsor after The New York Times published his essay.

His apology was attached to an order from Albert Diaz, the chief judge of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals who was assigned to handle the complaint, finding Ponsor violated the code of conduct for federal judges. 

Diaz wrote that it violated provisions prohibiting a judge from diminishing public confidence in the judiciary and publicly commenting on the merits of a pending matter. The appeals judge said he was satisfied with Ponsor’s public apology letter, and that it was sufficient enough to conclude the matter.

“Viewed in the timeframe during which the essay was published, including the substantial press coverage detailing the calls from Justice Alito’s recusals from the then-pending January 6 cases, it would be reasonable for a member of the public to perceive the essay as a commentary on partisan issues and as a call for Justice Alito’s recusal,” Diaz wrote. 

Alito, who declined to recuse himself from the cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, has publicly said he had “nothing whatsoever to do” with the flying of the flag at his home, saying it was his wife’s decision.

Critics pounced on the incident, since the upside-down flag has been used by those protesting Trump’s loss in 2020 and became associated with the “Stop the Steal” movement. 

“This episode is textbook hypocrisy. Justice Alito currently faces no consequences for his public commentary and actions that cast doubt on his impartiality, but the judge who raised legitimate concerns about these ethical lapses is disciplined in response to a complaint by a political activist with an axe to grind,” Josh Sorbe, spokesperson for Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), said in a statement.

“It’s a blatant double standard, and let’s not forget: this discipline is the product of an enforceable code of conduct, which all federal judges must abide by except for Justice Alito and the eight other justices,” Sorbe added.

Updated at 11:37 a.m. EST