Leaks at the Supreme Court

For John, BLUF:  As the US Supreme Court was reviewing its nearly 50 year old Roe v Wade (Abortion) decision someone leaked the draft decision, apparently with the intent of influencing that decision.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Supreme Court’s Failure to Identify Dobbs Leaker Is ‘Chilling’:  Jonathan Turley

From The Epoch Times, by Reporter Samantha Flom, 23 January 2023.

Here is the lede plus five:

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley criticized the Supreme Court on Jan. 19 over its failure to determine who leaked a draft of the court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization opinion.

After a months-long investigation sparked by the May leak, the court released its much-anticipated investigative report (pdf) on the matter Thursday, finding that it was “not possible” to identify the person responsible for the breach or how the document had ended up in the hands of Politico.

“The Supreme Court’s report indicates that they cannot isolate the culprit among the over 80 possible suspects for the Dobbs leak,” Turley noted in a series of Jan. 19 tweets. “It is an admission that is almost as chilling as the leak itself.”

Turley also posited that, despite the security recommendations of the court’s marshal, the inconclusive investigation would likely only serve to embolden future leakers.

“The nature of the Court’s work requires a free flow of drafts and memoranda,” he noted. “That is why we hope to achieve through deterrence what was not achieved through ethics.

“In this age of rage, this danger will only grow,” he added. “Someone felt that they had license to leak. Some others may now feel that they have the impunity to do so.”

The term "age of rage" sums up our current situation.  Take, for example, the City of Atlanta over this past weekend. where people from outside the city converged on it to protest the police building a training center.  One would think that better training would lead to better, more just, policing.  Apparently that is not an obvious conclusion to all.

As for the US Supreme Court lead, one wondeers if the search is worth the ensuing turmoil.  Heaven forbid it were one of the Justices.  Would there ever be comity again?  A law clerk?  In the future could they be trusted to carry a piece of paper from one office to another?  Better to consider it an aberation and move on.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff