U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito took it upon himself to mock the leaders of U.S. allies in a keynote speech delivered on July 21 in Rome, Italy. Acting like a mobbed-up comedian performing a churlish stand-up routine on the Las Vegas Strip, Alito lambasted foreign leaders for publicly criticizing the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn abortion rights previously guaranteed by the 1973 Roe v. Wade case.
Alito displayed a total disregard for judicial temperament and diplomatic protocol expected of Supreme Court justices. Speaking to the 2022 Religious Liberty Summit sponsored by Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Initiative, Alito launched pointed barbs at foreign leaders by name. Alito’s action has undoubtedly resulted in the U.S. State Department’s protocol officers and ambassadors having to deliver formal apologies to the leaders who Alito debased either by name or generally.
In an attempt at humor more appropriate while among a drunken crowd at a Knights of Columbus dinner, Alito told the audience, “I had the honor this term of writing I think the only Supreme Court decision in the history of that institution that has been lambasted by a whole string of foreign leaders.” Alito also was indignant that any foreign leader would have the temerity to criticize the court’s decision, saying they were “perfectly fine commenting on American law.”
Alito stated that one foreign leader, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, was forced to resign a few days after he criticized the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Crossing into Qanon conspiracy territory, Alito suggested that it was Johnson’s criticism of the Supreme Court that led to his resignation. In fact, Johnson remains as caretaker prime minister until a new leader of his Conservative Party is chosen and it was an ethics scandal that drove Johnson to resign, not his comments on the Supreme Court.
Alito, whose Italian mafia ties in his native Trenton, New Jersey were never fully examined during his Senate confirmation process, also ridiculed the stances taken by French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in condemning the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Alito was particularly scornful of Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex. Alito indicated that the prince’s July 18 speech before the UN General Assembly had “wounded” him by comparing the overturning of Roe v. Wade to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Alito failed to mention that the prince was speaking before the General Assembly on International Nelson Mandela Day. What the Duke of Sussex actually said was that among the victims of a “global assault on democracy and freedom” were the people of Ukraine and “constitutional rights in the United States.” Not once did Prince Harry specifically mention the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Other world leaders who castigated the Supreme Court’s overturning of abortion rights, thus earning the enmity of Alito, were UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Iceland Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Australia Prime Minister Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Sweden Prime Minister Magdalena Anderson and Foreign Minister Ann Linde, Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Norway Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford, Greece Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Belgium Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Portugal Prime Minister Antonio Costa, Netherlands Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra and Foreign Trade Minister Liesje Schreinemacher, Italy Minister for Gender Equality and Family Elena Bonetti and Health Minister Roberto Speranza, Ireland Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, Quebec Premier François Legault and Minister for the Status of Women Isabelle Charest, Wopke Hoekstra, and Chile Minister of Women and Gender Equality Antonia Orellana and Chile Minister of Women and Gender Equality Antonia Orellana.
Rather than act like a senior American jurist, Alito chose to emulate other political jabronis, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, House Minoroty Whip Steve Scalise, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former acting Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Alito’s comments only serve to embolden Russia, which sees another opportunity to drive a wedge between the members of NATO and the European Union and the United States. The Supreme Court should also investigate whether any of its members, concerned about adverse international reaction to their pending decision to overturn abortion rights, sought foreign signatures on an amicus curiae brief. The brief was signed by Angela Gandra, a member of the cabinet of Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, during the Supreme Court’s deliberation of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the case that overturned Roe v. Wade. If Chief Justice John Roberts has any effective control over what is now a runaway far-right Supreme Court, he should instruct Alito to publicly and in writing apologize to the world leaders he criticized directly by name and indirectly by insinuation. Alito’s resignation is also in order, particularly if he had been in contact with governments of Brazil, South Korea, Poland, Italy, Austria, Slovakia, Russia, Germany, Bulgaria, Croatia, Spain, Great Britain, Canada, Malta, Chile, Honduras, Mexico, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, Argentina, Australia, Kenya, Singapore, India. Northern Ireland, Philippines, or other current or former right-wing governments or individuals or organizations associated with the fascist Catholic sect Opus Dei to solicit signatures on the amicus brief filed with the court.
Previously published in the Wayne Madsen Report.
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Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist, author and nationally-distributed columnist. A member of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and the National Press Club. He is the editor and publisher of the Wayne Madsen Report (subscription required).
