Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is refuting charges that he leaked a key case’s ruling in 2014.
Furthermore, denials from major individuals in the story, as well as a lack of concrete evidence verifying the charges, placed serious doubt on them.
What exactly are the latest allegations?
The New York Times revealed on Saturday a letter written in July to Chief Justice John Roberts in which Reverend Rob Schenck says he knew the result of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. even before court revealed its verdict in the 2014 case.
The decision is noteworthy because it determined that religious groups can refuse coverage for certain contraceptives in violation of Obamacare.
Schenck, outlined by Politico as “when an evangelical minister and notable anti-abortion activist” that “has since grown disillusioned with the religious right,” tried to claim in his letter that after dinner with the Alitos, a sponsor to his organization, Gayle Wright, informed him that the High court Court would decide in favor of Hobby Lobby.
Several weeks later, the ruling was in favor of Hobby Lobby, with Alito writing the majority opinion.
What about the proof?
There is circumstantial evidence that Schenck possessed insider info, such as ambiguous emails and secondhand chats, but none of it confirms Alito leaked the case judgement.
In reality, Wright has denied obtaining or sharing information on any Supreme Court cases.
“If you have a close friendship with a justice, you know they never inform you about cases. They are not permitted,” Wright told the Times. “I’m not going to ask. In all my years, I have never had a justice or a justice’s spouse tell me anything regarding a decision.”
Wright termed Schenck’s charges “patently false” in another CNN interview, stating that “the whole thing is completely misinterpreted.”
Alito has strongly denied leaking the Hobby Lobby decision.
“The suggestion that I or my wife told the Wrights the conclusion of the Hobby Lobby case, or the authorship of the Court’s ruling, is entirely incorrect,” Alito stated in a statement.
