Here’s a letter from Senators Cornyn, Chambliss, and Graham to Senators Hatch and Sessions:
September 29, 2004
The Honorable Orrin G. Hatch
Chairman
Committee on the Judiciary
224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510The Honorable Jeff Sessions
Chairman
Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts
Committee on the Judiciary
335 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510Dear Senators Hatch and Sessions,
Recent articles in Vanity Fair and Legal Times strongly suggest that the duty of confidentiality owed to justices of the United States Supreme Court by their employees have been breached. If proven, these allegations present serious concerns about the integrity of judicial operations and warrant the attention of the Senate Judiciary Committee or its subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts.
According to an article published in the October 2004 issue of Vanity Fair, a number of law clerks who served at the U.S. Supreme Court during the October 2000 Term intentionally disclosed confidential information about the Court’s internal deliberations to a reporter. Such disclosures clearly violate the duty of confidentiality owed by every law clerk to the United States Supreme Court. Indeed, the Vanity Fair article itself quotes one former law clerk apparently complicit in the disclosure, who admits that such discussions “break[] an obligation” to the Court. These disclosures have been roundly condemned as “conduct unbecoming any attorney or legal adviser working in a position of trust” and “behavior that violates the Code of Conduct to which all Supreme Court clerks . . . agree to be bound,” in a recent letter published in the Legal Times and signed by numerous Supreme Court practitioners and former law clerks.
Judges throughout the federal judiciary, including the U.S. Supreme Court, rely on the assistance of law clerks to ensure the smooth and expedient administration of justice. If members of the judiciary cannot rely on the confidentiality of their deliberations and discussions with law clerks, the judiciary as we know it simply could not function.
Oversight of the operations of the judiciary fall uniquely within the jurisdiction of the Senate Judiciary Committee and its subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts. Accordingly, we ask that you consider hearings or other measures to determine whether there has been misconduct by employees of the United States Supreme Court, and if so, what measures should be taken in response.
Sincerely,
John Cornyn
Saxby Chambliss
Lindsey Graham
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