[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4455 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4455

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for penalties for the 
  unauthorized disclosure of confidential information by officers or 
        employees of the Supreme Court, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 22, 2022

 Mr. Cassidy (for himself, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, and Mr. Rubio) 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 penalties for the 
  unauthorized disclosure of confidential information by officers or 
        employees of the Supreme Court, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Stop Supreme Court Leakers Act of 
2022''.

SEC. 2. OBSTRUCTION OF SUPREME COURT DELIBERATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 73 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 1522. Obstruction of Supreme Court deliberations
    ``(a) Definition.--In this section, the term `confidential 
information' includes--
            ``(1) internal notes on cases heard by the Supreme Court of 
        the United States;
            ``(2) any communication between the Chief Justice of the 
        United States or an associate justice of the Supreme Court of 
        the United States and an employee or officer of the Supreme 
        Court on a matter pending before the Supreme Court;
            ``(3) a communication between officers and employees of the 
        Supreme Court of the United States on a matter pending before 
        the Supreme Court;
            ``(4) a draft opinion or a final opinion prior to the date 
        on which such opinion is released to the public;
            ``(5) personal information of the Chief Justice of the 
        United States or an associate justice of the Supreme Court of 
        the United States that is not otherwise legally available to 
        the public; and
            ``(6) any other information designated to be confidential 
        by the Chief Justice of the United States prior to the date on 
        which a violation of subsection (b) occurs.
    ``(b) Prohibition.--It shall be unlawful for any person, while 
serving as an officer or employee of the Supreme Court, to knowingly 
publish, divulge, disclose, or make known in any manner or to any 
extent not authorized by law any confidential information coming to 
that officer or employee in the course of the employment or official 
duties of that officer or employee.
    ``(c) Criminal Penalties.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), any 
        individual who violates, or conspires to violate, subsection 
        (b) shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years and fined under 
        this title.
            ``(2) Internal notes.--Any individual who violates, or 
        conspires to violate, subsection (a) with confidential 
        information described in subsection (a)(1) shall be fined 
        $10,000.''.
    (b) Civil Forfeiture.--Section 981(a)(1) of title 18, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(J) Any property, real or personal, involved in a 
                violation or attempted violation, or which constitutes 
                or is derived from proceeds traceable to a violation, 
                of section 1522.''.
    (c) Table of Contents.--The table of sections for chapter 73 of 
title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``1522. Obstruction of Supreme Court deliberations.''.
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