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☆ A Christian minister testified that he was involved in decades-long efforts to influence the Supreme Court: 'We pushed the boundaries of Christian ethics'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

An evangelical Christian minister testified he was involved in an effort to influence Supreme Court justices' thinking. Robert Schenck told a congressional panel that he gained advance knowledge of a 2014 Supreme Court ruling. "I believe we pushed the boundaries of Christian ethics and comprised the high court's promise to administer equal justice," Schenck said. The allegations have prompted renewed calls from Democratic lawmakers for the Supreme Court justices to abide by an ethics code. "I don't believe a thing Mr. Schneck says," Paoletta, a former clerk for Justice Thomas, told the committee.

☆ Supreme Court’s Lawyer Dismisses Ethics Allegations Against Justice Samuel Alito
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Jess Bravin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, which found that some firms could deny coverage of contraceptives to female employees. WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court’s staff lawyer rejected allegations that Justice Samuel Alito may have disclosed to conservative activists the outcome of a 2014 case on contraceptive access before it was published. “There is nothing to suggest that Justice Alito’s actions violated ethics standards,” Ethan Torrey , the Supreme Court’s legal counsel, wrote in a letter responding to queries from two Democratic critics of the court’s ethical practices, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia.

The 2014 decision in the case called Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, like the June abortion decision, represented a victory for religious conservatives. The Hobby Lobby decision exempted family-owned businesses that objected on religious grounds from a federal requirement that any health insurance they provide to employees must cover birth control for women. Durbin urged passage of legislation that would create a code of ethics for the Supreme Court. Schenck, according to the Times, wrote to Roberts about his claim. Schenck said one of the Wrights then told him that Alito had authored the Hobby Lobby opinion and that it would favor the company, the newspaper reported.

☆ Targeting Justice Samuel Alito
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The political campaign against the Supreme Court continues, relentlessly, and the latest example is a claim that eight years ago Justice Samuel Alito leaked word ahead of time about a Supreme Court ruling. We’d ignore this except that Democrats and the anti-Court media are treating it like a capital offense. To call this story uncorroborated is to overstate its credibility. Rob Schenck , a pastor who has since turned against his former evangelical allies, claims he heard from a woman who heard from Justice Alito at a dinner party in 2014 about the pending opinion in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, a religious liberty case. Justice Alito denies leaking anything, and the woman denies hearing about it.

☆ The Senate Judiciary Committee will review reports that Alito's Hobby Lobby decision was leaked to an anti-abortion leader: 'another black mark on the Supreme Court's increasingly marred ethical recor
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Anti-abortion leaders knew about a 2014 Supreme Court decision before it was official, NYT reported. Alito's Hobby Lobby decision on contraception would be the second of two known leaks from the court. The Senate Judiciary Committee will investigate the allegations, AP reported. The Burwell v. Hobby Lobby decision held that corporations can refuse on religious grounds to pay for contraception as mandated by the Affordable Care Act. Representatives for the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Durbin, and the Supreme Court did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

Conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Saturday strenuously denied any involvement in leaking the outcome of a 2014 ruling in a lengthy statement issued in response to a New York Times report. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority that strongly favors religious rights and frequently rules in favor of conservative Christian interests. Gayle Wright told the Times she did not obtain or pass along any information to Schenck, who has since become a supporter of abortion rights. Chief Justice John Roberts announced in May that he had launched an investigation of the leak but there has been no update since. Meanwhile, liberal members of the court have suggested that the court risks undermining its legitimacy by abruptly unraveling decades of precedent.

☆ Former anti-abortion leader alleges Supreme Court leaked another landmark case, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

A view of the U.S. Supreme Court building on the first day of the court's new term in Washington, U.S. October 3, 2022. Schenck said the ruling was also shared with a handful of advocates, according to the report. The Burwell v. Hobby Lobby decision was a victory for conservatives, much like the Supreme Court's recent 5-4 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the historic ruling that established the constitutional right to abortion in the U.S. in 1973. In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, the court ruled that it was a violation of religious freedom for family-owned businesses to be required to pay for insurance that covers contraception. Representatives for the Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Roberts didn't immediately comment.

WASHINGTON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - A New York Times report of a former anti-abortion leader's claim that he was told in advance about the outcome of a major 2014 U.S. Supreme Court case involving contraceptives triggered calls on Saturday for an investigation of a court still reeling from the leak of a landmark abortion rights ruling. Rob Schenck was quoted by The Times as saying he was informed weeks before the public announcement of the 2014 ruling shortly after two conservative allies had dinner at the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and his wife. Alito said in a statement that any allegation that he or his wife leaked the 2014 decision was "completely false." Alito had called the Roe leak, which was confirmed when the ruling was announced in June, a "grave betrayal." Schenck said one of the Wrights then told him that Alito had authored the Hobby Lobby opinion and that it would be in its favor, The Times said.

☆ A former anti-abortion leader says he was told the decision of the landmark 2014 Hobby Lobby contraception case weeks before the Supreme Court ruling was formally announced: NYT
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

An anti-abortion leader said he was told of the Supreme Court's 2014 Hobby Lobby ruling in advance, per The New York Times. According to Schenck, the outcome of the Hobby Lobby case was only known to a very small contingent of individuals. In the letter to Roberts, Schenck spoke of the process in which the revelation about the Hobby Lobby case played out. "As I recall, we talked about the Green family, owners of Hobby Lobby, and how they, too, would be interested in this information." Gayle Wright told The Times that she didn't pass on any information about the Hobby Lobby decision in advance.

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