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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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Justice Samuel Alito's absence from the Supreme Court for two days in a row last week has raised questions. The court has not provided an explanation for Alito's absence on Thursday and Friday, CNN reported.
The conservative justice's absence is notable because the court is issuing decisions before the end of its term. It could mean the court extends its term into July to issue opinions in the remaining undecided cases. Newsweek has contacted a Supreme Court spokesperson for comment via email.
In the coming days, the justices are expected to rule on whether former President Donald Trump is immune from prosecution over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and whether Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, can be prosecuted for obstructing an official proceeding.
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Alito has rejected calls to recuse himself from cases involving Trump after reports about controversial flags that flew above his homes. Alito has said his wife, Martha-Ann, was responsible for flying both an upside-down U.S. flag over their home in January 2021 and an "Appeal to Heaven" flag at their New Jersey beach house last year. Both flags were like those carried by rioters who violently stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 while echoing Trump's baseless claims of election fraud.
Alito "was absent from court for two days last week. No word on why," former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday.
"We'll see whether he is present this week. The larger question is whether he and Justice Thomas, neither one of whom should arguably be participating in the Trump-related cases at this point, recused."
The New Republic wrote about Alito's absence, and included theories about the reason for it. "Is he combating a hangover from a particularly raucous flag day with Martha-Ann? Is he ducking out to delay the decision on Trump's presidential immunity case?" the report said.
The left-leaning website Palmer Report also questioned why a reason had not been provided for Alito's absence.
"Alito has been absent from the court for the last few days," a report on the website said. "Nobody knows why. It usually happens that when a Justice goes missing, the court issues a statement explaining the reason why. They're on vacation. They're sick. They've checked themselves into a mental asylum.
"I mean, whatever the reason is, it's usually known to us. Not this time. Everyone is asking: Sammy, where are you? This is a most unusual situation," the report added.
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