Justice Samuel Alito absent from Supreme Court session for second day in a row

Justice Samuel Alito was not present on Friday morning as the Supreme Court handed down opinions in the courtroom, the second day in a row he has been absent.

Alito’s absence, for which the Supreme Court has not provided an explanation, is unusual because it’s the end of the term and the justices have issued nine opinions over the last two days.

One of the opinions on Friday included upholding a federal law that bars guns for domestic abusers, rejecting an argument pressed by gun rights groups that the prohibition violated the Second Amendment.

Alito has been in the news recently for controversial flag displays outside of his properties, including a US flag that was flown inverted outside the justice’s home in 2021 and another flag that was on display during the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol that was flown outside Alito’s vacation home in New Jersey.

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