That’s what a new NYT article suggests, and has copies of emails to support it. The guy providing the emails and other supporting info was a big-wig in the anti-abortion, anti-contraception movement who says he’s had a change of heart, and that “what we did was wrong”.

He’s sent a letter to the Supreme Court. Here’s some:

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Back in June 2014, when so many awaited the Court's opinion in Burwell Hobby Lobby, was informed by a donor to the Capitol Hill-based non-profit organization led that she and her husband would be dining at the home of Justice and Mrs. Alito. She suggested that in their table conversation, she might be able to learn the status of the case, something she knew had an interest in knowing. I received a follow-up message from her notifying me she had indeed obtained the information during that visit. We spoke on the phone, and she detailed the revelation.

The woman in question sent an email the day after the dinner:

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A day later, Gayle Wright, one of the pair, contacted Mr. Schenck, according to an email reviewed by The Times. “Rob, if you want some interesting news please call. No emails,” she wrote.

This guy said that she then passed on the Hobby Lobby ruling info over the phone, months before it was officially released.

The Times says there are a few holes that haven’t been filled in this story, and both Alito and the lady that dined with him deny it. But it certainly interesting given that Alito also wrote the Dobbs decision overturning Roe, and that was also leaked ahead of time.

Here’s a gift link if you want to read it yourself.

Why do I find myself yearning for peaches?

Is is a coincidence that this is now coming out when the House is about to flip to Republican?

Feels disingenuous to me. If he really wanted to ease his conscience he could have revealed this earlier.

The WaPo follows, largely repeating what the NYT reported.

Both pieces note that Schenck wrote a letter to Chief Justice Roberts after the leak of the Dobbs opinion, as Schenck thought the previous leak (that he alleges) had some important relevance, and Roberts never mentioned this publicly or even responded to the letter.

Ultimately, it’s a he said/she said, I suppose, unless others can come forward and corroborate Schenck’s premature knowledge of the decision (and that Alito would write it, contrary to widespread opinion at the time that Roberts would). But Gayle Wright, the woman who emailed the following day “Rob, if you want some interesting news please call. No emails,” now says she was referring to her recollection that she fell ill and Alito drove she and her husband home. Does that sound like something a person would say “No emails” about?

The Guardian:

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A civil rights group issued a call Saturday for US supreme court justice Samuel Alito to be investigated over allegations that the judge leaked a 2014 landmark ruling involving contraception and religious rights at a private dinner with wealthy political donors.

“The Senate judiciary committee should immediately move to investigate the apparent leak by Justice Alito,” said Brian Fallon, the executive director of Demand Justice.

“This bombshell report is the latest proof that the Republican justices on the court are little more than politicians in robes.…

It does seem reasonable for the Senate judiciary committee to at least interview this guy and see if he can back up his allegations.

The horrifying thing about that article is the incredible access given lobbyists to a Supreme Court justice. These guys need to be held to more accountability than "self policing". What a joke that is.

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$tevie
The horrifying thing about that article is the incredible access given lobbyists to a Supreme Court justice. These guys need to be held to more accountability than "self policing". What a joke that is.

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NYT

“While there are many potential solutions, here’s one that the Court could adopt in one minute: OPERATE UNDER THE SAME ETHICS RULES AS EVERY OTHER FEDERAL JUDGE,” Senator Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota Democrat and another member of the Judiciary Committee, tweeted in response to the Times report.

I just love Amy.

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pdq

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$tevie
The horrifying thing about that article is the incredible access given lobbyists to a Supreme Court justice. These guys need to be held to more accountability than "self policing". What a joke that is.

Quote
NYT

“While there are many potential solutions, here’s one that the Court could adopt in one minute: OPERATE UNDER THE SAME ETHICS RULES AS EVERY OTHER FEDERAL JUDGE,” Senator Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota Democrat and another member of the Judiciary Committee, tweeted in response to the Times report.

I just love Amy.

She's one of the handful who actually do their job correctly.

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From May...

The Supreme Court Needs an Ethics Code

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