NYT publishes second Alito flag report: 'Appeal to Heaven' flag flew at New Jersey vacation home (July and September 2023)

Opening paragraph

On May 22, 2024, six days after the first Alito flag story, the New York Times published Jodi Kantor’s follow-on investigation reporting that an “Appeal to Heaven” flag — a pine-tree banner dating to the Revolutionary War that has been adopted since the late 2010s as a symbol of Christian-nationalist politics and was carried by January 6 rioters at the Capitol — flew at the Alitos’ Long Beach Island, New Jersey vacation home in July 2023 and again in September 2023. Three photographs and accounts from approximately six neighbors and passers-by corroborated the display. Alito did not publicly address this second flag report; he incorporated a brief mention in his May 29, 2024 recusal-refusal letters, again attributing the flag display to his wife. The pattern — two provocative flags at two separate Alito properties, across a three-year span — undercut the “one-time neighbor dispute” framing Alito had offered for the January 2021 upside-down flag.

What Happened / Key Facts

• Publication: New York Times, May 22, 2024 (Wednesday), bylined Jodi Kantor
• Photographic dating: three photographs of the Long Beach Island property with the Appeal to Heaven flag flying, dated July 2023 and September 2023
• Witness corroboration: approximately six neighbors and passers-by interviewed by the Times
• Property: the Alitos’ Long Beach Island vacation home, which Alito has owned since 2014
• Flag symbology: the Appeal to Heaven flag (pine tree on a white field with the motto “An Appeal to Heaven”) originated as a 1775 maritime flag authorized by George Washington. Its modern political meaning diverges from its Revolutionary origin: since the late 2010s, it has been adopted by Dutch Sheets and the New Apostolic Reformation / Seven Mountain Mandate dominionist movement as a symbol of Christian-nationalist political theology. It was carried by January 6 participants including members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers
• Alito’s response: no immediate public statement. Alito addressed both flags together in his May 29, 2024 letters to Senate Judiciary members (see 2024-05-29–alito-refuses-recusal-jan6-trump-cases), stating: “My wife is fond of flying flags. I am not. My wife was solely responsible for having flagpoles put up at our residence and our vacation home and has flown a wide variety of flags over the years”
• Pattern framing: because the Long Beach Island flag postdates the January 2021 Alexandria flag by more than two years, the second report converted the controversy from a single alleged neighbor dispute into a multi-year pattern. Rolling Stone, NPR, and Common Dreams all framed the story as evidence of sustained Christian-nationalist symbology at the Alito properties rather than one-time incident

Why This Event Matters

The second flag reporting transforms the Alito-flag story from an isolated January 2021 incident into a documented pattern spanning two properties and three years. It matters for the recusal analysis in Trump v. United States and Fischer v. United States (both pending at the time of the reporting) because the “pattern” framing makes a reasonable-observer impartiality inquiry under 28 U.S.C. § 455(a) more difficult to dismiss as a one-time household dispute. It also matters for the Christian-nationalism research thread: the Appeal to Heaven flag’s adoption by the New Apostolic Reformation and Seven Mountain Mandate movements links the Alito household to a specific theological-political subculture whose policy positions (including opposition to church-state separation and support for Christian dominionist governance) are not neutral to the cases before the Court.

The second reporting is also structurally different from the first: Alito did not and could not cite a single neighbor dispute to explain a flag at a property 150 miles from Alexandria, hoisted twice in one summer. The pattern undermined the January 2021 explanation by foreclosing its generalization.

Immediate Consequences

• Expanded recusal demands: Senate Judiciary Chair Durbin, Sen. Whitehouse, Rep. Hank Johnson, and Rep. Mikie Sherrill formally requested recusal across both flag incidents
• Alito May 29, 2024 letters: Alito addressed both flags in letters to Durbin/Whitehouse, attributing both to his wife and refusing recusal
• H. Res. 1354 impeachment resolution: introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on July 10, 2024 citing both flag incidents
• Senate Judiciary December 2024 final report: the Judiciary Committee Democrats’ final investigative report cited both flag displays as evidence warranting recusal

Related Entries

Actors

• alito-samuel

Timeline

• 2024-05-16–nyt-reports-alito-upside-down-flag-january-2021 — first flag story, six days earlier
• 2024-05-29–alito-refuses-recusal-jan6-trump-cases — formal recusal refusal addressing both flags
• 2023-11-13–scotus-adopts-nonbinding-code-of-conduct — the standard Alito cited
• 2024-07-01–scotus-trump-immunity-ruling
• 2024-12-21–senate-judiciary-scotus-ethics-final-report

Themes / Mechanisms

• judicial-capture — read-only cross-link
• christian-nationalism — read-only cross-link

Research Gaps

• Other flag displays: whether other flags with movement-specific symbology have flown at Alito properties is not systematically documented. Times reporting covered only the two flags that drew witness attention
• Martha-Ann Alito’s network connections: whether Mrs. Alito has direct ties to New Apostolic Reformation or Seven Mountain Mandate organizations is not publicly established
• Purchase chain of the Long Beach Island property: who holds title, whether there are co-owners, and whether other household members had authority over flag displays has not been investigated publicly