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According to reports, the U.S. Supreme Court’s investigators have focused their investigation on a small group of individuals who are suspected of leaking a draft judgment in May that would have reversed the historic Roe v. Wade judgement from 1973 that made abortion lawful in all 50 states.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that legal clerks were among the possibilities, but the publication added that individuals familiar with the investigation stated “officials have yet to conclusively identify the alleged culprit.”
A day after the unusual disclosure, Chief Justice John Roberts tasked Gail Curley, the Supreme Court marshal, with looking into the situation. But since then, the court hasn’t given the public any updates on the investigation.
Apart from a request from investigators in June that justices’ law clerks sit for interviews and hand over their smartphones, not much more has come to light, according to the WSJ. Several of the three dozen clerks working in May sought legal assistance as a result.
Republicans in Congress have been criticizing the procedure and asking loudly why the leaker hasn’t been identified or made public.
Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (R., Wisconsin) asserted during a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee in December that “for some reason this individual has certainly been sheltered and there is absolutely evidence that there are specific people who know who this person is.”
The leak may not have been illegal, but unheard of and, in the words of many judges, it could be “devastating to relations within the court.””
Protesters almost immediately descended upon the Supreme Court building to denounce the impending majority ruling following the historic leaked draft that suggested Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey were going to be overturned —as it was a few weeks later.
Approximately a week after the leak, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Clarence Thomas reacted to it and said it may be the end of the Supreme Court as we know it.
“We can’t be an institution that can be bullied into giving you just the outcomes you want. The events from earlier this week are a symptom of that,” Justice Thomas said.
The final decision issued by the court in June 2022 and the leaked draft were almost exact replicas. Justice Samuel Alito wrote both.
