Justice Alito weirdly jokes that 'You do see a lot of Black children in Ku Klux Klan outfits all the time' while debating a free speech case and talking about Santa photos

• Justice Samuel Alito made a weird joke during oral arguments in a free speech case Monday.
• "You do see a lot of Black children in Ku Klux Klan outfits, right? All the time." Alito joked.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito made a weird joke about Black children wearing Ku Klux Klan outfits while debating a free speech case Monday.

While the justices were hearing oral arguments in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis — a case that will determine whether an anti-discrimination law in Colorado violates a web designer's first amendment right to freedom of speech because she only designs wedding websites for heterosexual couples — Alito referenced a hypothetical presented by Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Jackson's scenario was about a photography business not wanting to take photos of a mall Santa Claus with children who are not white. Alito furthered the scenario, asking if a Black Santa Claus should have to take a photo with a child dressed in a Ku Klux Klan outfit even if he does not want to be pictured with a child dressed as a member of the KKK.

"No, because Ku Klux Klan outfits are not protected characteristics under public accommodation laws," Colorado Solicitor General Eric Olsen responded.

Supreme Court Justice Elana Kagan then clarified that in this scenario, the same KKK outfit could be worn by a child regardless if that child is "Black or white or any other characteristic," and the same law would apply.

"You do see a lot of Black children in Ku Klux Klan outfits, right?" Alito then joked. "All the time."

Alito, one of the court's conservative justices, then laughed before passing the microphone to Kagan for further debate.