Caught On Tape: Justice Samuel Alito Admits Partiality
Lauren Windsor of The Undercurrent catches Alito saying the quiet part out loud.
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Note: Apology to our readers for the initial headline typo.
Here’s the Exclusive Audio
This audio was captured by undercover journalist and documentarian Lauren Windsor of The Undercurrent and originally posted to Twitter here.
Context about how the audio was captured, from Rolling Stone’s Exclusive on this story:
Alito made these remarks in conversation at the Supreme Court Historical Society’s annual dinner on June 3, a function that is known to right-wing activists as an opportunity to buttonhole Supreme Court justices. His comments were recorded by Lauren Windsor, a liberal documentary filmmaker. Windsor attended the dinner as a dues-paying member of the society under her real name, along with a colleague. She asked questions of the justice as though she were a religious conservative.
Key Portions of the Audio
Windsor: I don’t know that we can negotiate with the left in the way that needs to happen for the polarization to end. I think that it’s a matter of, like, winning.
Alito: I think you’re probably right. On one side or the other — one side or the other is going to win. I don’t know. I mean, there can be a way of working — a way of living together peacefully, but it’s difficult, you know, because there are differences on fundamental things that really can’t be compromised. They really can’t be compromised. So it’s not like you are going to split the difference.
Windsor: People in this country who believe in God have got to keep fighting for that — to return our country to a place of godliness.
Alito: I agree with you. I agree with you.
Why It Matters
It’s one thing to think that Supreme Court Justices have biases that impact their rulings. It’s another thing to hear them admit it so explicitly.
Windsor also tried to corner Chief Justice John Roberts through her undercover prodding, but he had a very different response:
Roberts: Would you want me to be in charge of putting the nation on a more moral path? That’s for people we elect. That’s not for lawyers.
Please Amplify This Story
If you’re still on Twitter, here is Windsor’s original post. We must all demand an impartial Court that rules based on the law, not based on their partisan convictions.
Will this now convince Dick Durbin to get a hearing?
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