Tipsheet

Will America Ever Find Out Who the Supreme Court Leaker Is?

Last Thursday, the Supreme Court officially ended its term after releasing final opinions on a number of cases. 

But the Supreme Court still hasn't revealed who leaked the draft opinion of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization at the beginning of May. 

Shortly after the leak, Chief Justice John Roberts tasked the Marshal of the Court to get to the bottom of the breach and called it egregious. 

"To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed. The work of the Court will not be affected in any way," Roberts released in a rare statement on May 3, 2022. "We at the Court are blessed to have a workforce – permanent employees and law clerks alike – intensely loyal to the institution and dedicated to the rule of law. Court employees have an exemplary and important tradition of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial process and upholding the trust of the Court. This was a singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the Court and the community of public servants who work here." 

"I have directed the Marshal of the Court to launch an investigation into the source of the leak," he concluded. 

The leak not only rocked the Supreme Court, where trust and confidentiality are crucial, but prompted violent pro-abortion activists to launch a number of attacks on crisis pregnancy centers and illegally converge on the homes of conservative justices. Democrats have called for court-packing and even the elimination of the Supreme Court. Last week, President Joe Biden attacked justices on foreign soil. 

On June 24, the Court released the final opinion on Dobbs. It was largely unchanged and was nearly identical to the leaked draft opinion. The Department of Justice has expressed little interest in exploring potential criminal consequences for the leaker.