Leer en Español
The Supreme Court reported Thursday that, after several months of investigation, it could not find who leaked the draft of the Dobbs decision, which overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion in all 50 states.
In a statement, the Supreme Court says it has been unable to identify “by a preponderance of the evidence” who leaked the opinion last year. It also explained that it is unlikely that the leak was due to a computer attack.
The Supreme Court also indicated that the investigation involved 126 formal interviews with 97 employees, who denied having leaked the information. They also carried out a fingerprint analysis and reviewed the cases of people who could have any relationship with POLITICO, the outlet that published the draft of the sentence.
The Wall Street Journal reported two weeks ago that clerks were among those who may have leaked the document.
Supreme Court draft leaked
After the information was leaked last year, Chief Justice John Roberts commissioned Chief Justice Gail Curley, the court’s marshal, to investigate the situation a day later. Since then, no update on the investigation had been released, until today.
Congressional Republicans have criticized the procedure and questioned why the person responsible had not been identified. For example, Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wisconsin) questioned why details of the information were not known and stressed that the person involved could be being protected, according to the New York Post.
In June of last year, the Supreme Court decided to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, an action that leads at least 20 states in the country to ban or restrict access to abortion.
“Resolved: the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives,” the ruling noted.
The final decision issued by the court in June 2022 and the leaked draft were almost exact replicas drafted by Justice Samuel Alito.
Williams Perdomo es periodista y escritor, especializado en las fuentes Política y Cultura.