Judiciary Democrats demand probe of latest Supreme Court leak

[Valin]

The Washington Examiner

Emily Jacobs, Weekend News Editor

November 21, 2022

Democratic lawmakers are demanding answers after a bombshell New York Times report alleged that a 2014 Supreme Court decision was leaked to a former anti-abortion activist.

The Times report, published Saturday, chronicled yearslong efforts by Rev. Robert Schenck, once a pro-life activist, and other donors to his nonprofit to reach conservative justices and push anti-abortion positions. Schenck claimed, according to the report, that he obtained advanced word of the outcome in the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, in which Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his majority opinion that religious business owners did not have to comply with the Affordable Care Act's mandate requiring contraception coverage.

FORMER ANTI-ABORTION ACTIVIST ALLEGES LEAK IN 2014 SUPREME COURT CASE AUTHORED BY ALITO

Alito, who denies leaking the 2014 decision, also authored the draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that was leaked to Politico in May. At the time of that leak, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts launched an investigation and vowed that the bench would not be intimidated or swayed by any sort of outside pressure when deciding on whether to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion case. The status of that probe has not been made public.

(Snip)