Data leak

US senators have begun inspections in connection with reports of leaks in the media of data concerning the work of the US Supreme Court. This was written on Saturday on Twitter by a member of the upper house of the US Congress, Richard Durbin.

He stressed that "the Senate Judiciary Committee is considering these serious allegations". The lawmaker said it was "unacceptable that members of the highest judicial body are exempt from following the code of judicial ethics". He believes lobbyists are "spending millions from shady funds to influence court decisions".

Leaks relating to internal discussions at the US Supreme Court are very rare. One such case occurred earlier this year. US journalists had seen a draft version of a court document. In it, members of the US Supreme Court had expressed their vote in favour of striking down a ruling that the country's federal authorities guarantee rights relating to abortion. The court later ruled formally to that effect.

The New York Times on Saturday reported that another such leak may have occurred a few years ago. The paper published excerpts from an interview with Robert Schenck, who was formerly one of the leaders of the movement to restrict abortion in the US.

Robert said that in 2014 he had learned in advance of a Supreme Court ruling that ordered insurance companies to limit coverage for contraception in some cases.

It is also worth noting that in May, referring to a draft document authored by Justice Samuel Anthony Alito, it was reported that the US Supreme Court had voted to overturn Roe v. Wade ruling that allowed abortion at the federal level. The publication of the document, whose authenticity was later upheld by the Supreme Court, caused widespread publicity.

For example, US President Joe Biden has already said that he has instructed his administration to prepare a response in case the country's Supreme Court decides to overturn the decision guaranteeing the constitutional right to abortion. Protesters later clashed with law enforcement in Los Angeles amid a leaked Supreme Court document on the possible repeal of the abortion ruling.