Justice Alito denies disclosing 2014 opinion in advance
WASHINGTON — Justice Samuel Alito denied an allegation from a former anti-abortion activist that Alito or his wife disclosed to conservative donors the outcome of a pending 2014 case regarding contraceptives and religious rights.
The New York Times reported Saturday that Rob Schenck, who on his website identifies himself as a “once-right-wing religious leader but now dissenting evangelical voice,” said he was told the outcome of the case, Hobby Lobby v. Burwell, several weeks before it was announced. Schenck said a conservative donor to his organization relayed the information after a dinner with Alito, who wrote the majority opinion in the case, and the justice’s wife.
But the donor, Gayle Wright, told the Times that Schenck’s account was not true, and Alito issued a statement denying it as well.
“The allegation that the Wrights were told the outcome of the decision in the Hobby Lobby case, or the authorship of the opinion of the Court, by me or my wife is completely false,” Alito said.
“My wife and I became acquainted with the Wrights some years ago because of their strong support for the Supreme Court Historical Society, and since then, we have had a casual and purely social relationship,” the statement said. “I never detected any effort on the part of the Wrights to obtain confidential information or to influence anything that I did in either an official or private capacity, and I would have strongly objected if they had done so.”
In response to questions Saturday about the denials from Alito and Wright, Schenck confirmed in a statement “the extensive details and facts” he provided in the Times account and declined to comment further.
Schenck’s allegation comes after the unprecedented leak this spring of Alito’s draft opinion upholding a restrictive Mississippi abortion law and overturning the constitutional right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade nearly 50 years earlier. The leak was a shocking breach of the court’s secretive and closely held deliberations, and Alito recently denounced it as a “grave betrayal of trust.”
The episode added to growing debate over the legitimacy and behind-thescenes operations of the Supreme Court at a time when public approval of the court has sunk to historic lows.
Chief Justice John Roberts announced an investigation into the origins of the leak soon after it was published in early May but has not provided any further information. Some justices have said in public appearances they expect a report or updates, but they have not been specific.