What This Bill Does
This bill creates a new federal crime for Supreme Court officers and employees who illegally share secret information about the Court's work. The bill sets criminal penalties (prison time and fines) for unauthorized disclosure of confidential Court information.
Who It Affects
Officers and employees of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Key Provisions
• It becomes illegal for Supreme Court officers or employees to knowingly publish, share, or disclose confidential information they learn through their job without legal authorization. (Sec. 2(b))
• People who violate this law can go to prison for up to 10 years and be fined. (Sec. 2(c)(1))
• If someone illegally shares internal notes taken by Supreme Court employees about cases, they face a $10,000 fine instead of the longer prison sentence. (Sec. 2(c)(2))
• "Confidential information" includes: employee notes about cases, communications between justices and staff, staff communications about pending cases, draft and unreleased opinions, personal information about justices not publicly available, and any other information the Chief Justice designates as confidential. (Sec. 2(a))
What Changes
A new criminal law is added to federal code making it illegal for Supreme Court workers to leak confidential Court information.
Important Definitions
"Confidential information" means internal notes about cases, communications between justices and staff, communications between staff about pending cases, draft or unreleased opinions, non-public personal information about justices, and information designated confidential by the Chief Justice.
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 251
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for penalties for the
unauthorized disclosure of confidential information by officers or employ-
ees of the Supreme Court, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY 2, 2023
Mr. CASSIDY (for himself, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. WICKER, Mr.
DAINES, Mrs. BLACKBURN, and Mr. LEE) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for pen-
alties for the unauthorized disclosure of confidential in-
formation by officers or employees of the Supreme Court,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Supreme Court
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Leakers Act of 2023’’.
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•S 251 IS
SEC. 2. OBSTRUCTION OF SUPREME COURT DELIBERA-
1
TIONS.
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(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 73 of title 18, United
3
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
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lowing new section:
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‘‘§ 1522. Obstruction of Supreme Court deliberations
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‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘con-
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fidential information’ includes—
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‘‘(1) internal notes taken by an employee of the
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Supreme Court of the United States on cases heard
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by the Supreme Court;
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‘‘(2) any communication between the Chief Jus-
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tice of the United States or an associate justice of
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the Supreme Court of the United States and an em-
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ployee or officer of the Supreme Court;
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‘‘(3) a communication between officers and em-
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ployees of the Supreme Court of the United States
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on a matter pending before the Supreme Court;
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‘‘(4) a draft opinion or a final opinion prior to
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the date on which such opinion is released to the
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public;
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‘‘(5) personal information of the Chief Justice
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of the United States or an associate justice of the
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Supreme Court of the United States that is not oth-
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erwise legally available to the public; and
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•S 251 IS
‘‘(6) any other information designated to be
1
confidential by the Chief Justice of the United
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States prior to the date on which a violation of sub-
3
section (b) occurs.
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‘‘(b) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful for any per-
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son, while serving as an officer or employee of the Su-
6
preme Court, to knowingly publish, divulge, disclose, or
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make known in any manner or to any extent not author-
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ized by law any confidential information coming to that
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officer or employee in the course of the employment or
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official duties of that officer or employee.
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‘‘(c) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
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graph (2), any individual who violates, or conspires
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to violate, subsection (b) shall be imprisoned not
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more than 10 years and fined under this title.
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‘‘(2) INTERNAL
NOTES.—Any individual who
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violates, or conspires to violate, subsection (a) with
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confidential information described in subsection
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(a)(1) shall be fined $10,000.’’.
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(b) CRIMINAL FORFEITURE.—Section 982(a)(2)(B)
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of title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking
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‘‘1029, or 1030’’ and inserting ‘‘1029, 1030, or 1522’’.
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•S 251 IS
(c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of sections for
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chapter 73 of title 18, United States Code, is amended
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by adding at the end the following:
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‘‘1522. Obstruction of Supreme Court deliberations.’’.
Æ
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