Durbin Statement on New York Times Report Alleging Leak of Hobby Lobby Decision
CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement regarding a report by the New York Times that alleges that the outcome of the Supreme Court’s decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores was leaked to Rob Schenk, then a prominent anti-abortion leader, “weeks before it was announced,” which allowed him “to prepare a public relations push” and tip off the President of Hobby Lobby:
“The Senate Judiciary Committee is reviewing these serious allegations, which highlight once again the inexcusable ‘Supreme Court loophole’ in federal judicial ethics rules.
“It is unacceptable that members of the highest court in the land are exempted from the judicial code of ethics when wealthy special interests are spending millions of dollars in dark money to influence the Court’s decisions. Since the Court refuses to act, Congress should pass Senator Murphy’s Supreme Court Ethics Act, which would require the Court to adopt a code of ethics for Supreme Court justices.”
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