(Bloomberg) -- Justice Samuel Alito made a quip about Black children wearing Ku Klux Klan outfits at the US Supreme Court Monday.
During arguments about a website designer who refuses to create wedding sites for same-sex unions, Alito asked a lawyer whether a Black Santa Claus hypothetically could be forced to have a photo taken with a child in a Ku Klux Klan outfit. The query was a follow-up to an earlier line of questions from Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Colorado Solicitor General Eric Olson said the Santa could refuse because people wearing KKK outfits aren’t covered under anti-discrimination laws, which are geared toward race, sexual orientation and other protected characteristics.
Justice Elena Kagan added that “presumably that would be the same Ku Klux Klan outfit regardless whether the child was Black or White or any other characteristic.”
Alito then interjected: “Yeah, you do see a lot of Black children in Ku Klux Klan outfits, right? All the time.”
The comments drew a smattering of laughter from around the courtroom, as Alito tried to continue his questioning. “Suppose that, I mean, uh --” he stammered, before uttering an uncomfortable chuckle of his own. Justice Amy Coney Barrett smiled and looked down while other justices shifted in their seats.
After a pause, Kagan offered to jump into the void and ask her own questions of Olson. “Can I -- is that all right?” she asked Alito, who sits next to her on the bench.
“Sure,” Alito responded.
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
Advertisement