As the Supreme Court nears the time when its decision on a significant abortion case could be released, an internal inquiry into the leak of a draft ruling in the case is ramping up. On May 2, published the draft of a viewpoint composed by Justice Samuel Alito in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case worrying a Mississippi abortion law.
The draft ruling requires a new standard for abortion laws in the United States, which would in effect reverse the 1973 Roe v. Wade choice and leave it to states to set their own abortion regulations.
The document was verified as genuine, however, Politico warned that as a draft, it could be modified before the court ends its term in June.
Publication of the draft stimulated huge pro-abortion demonstrations and hazards versus the members of the Supreme Court’s conservative wing who may support the judgment.
Inside the Supreme Court, an examination into the leakage has actually now reached the point where law clerks are being asked to supply cellular phone records and sign affidavits, CNN reported Tuesday, citing three sources it did not name.
Supreme Court leak investigation heats up as clerks are asked for phone records in unprecedented movehttps://t.co/CjMTxtSvjl
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 31, 2022
“Some clerks are apparently so alarmed over the moves, particularly the sudden requests for private cell data, that they have begun exploring whether to hire outside counsel,” the report said.
Chief Justice John Roberts consulted with law clerks after the leakage. Each justice gets 4 clerks, and the treasured areas that can be steppingstones to a prominent profession.
CNN approximated that in addition to the 36 clerks, others would have had access to the draft, amounting to about 75 individuals in all.
The report stated it was unclear whether other court staff members were being asked to share cellular phone records.
The court’s internal investigation is being led by the court’s marshal, Gail Curley.
Curley, an attorney, and former Army colonel supervises the police deployed at the Supreme court building.
“I’m confident that if the truth can be found out here, she’ll find it out and present it in an unbiased manner,” retired Army Brig. Gen. Patrick Huston, Curley’s former supervisor at the Pentagon, said, according to The Associated Press.
Politico stated the procedure under which the examination is taking shape was uncertain.
Justices can demand the phone records of those they employ.
They can’t demand those records from their spouses, but as soon as the Chief Justice sets an example by requesting his wife’s records, those who decline will stand out. If the CJ is serious. . . https://t.co/1Yf83rgWue— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) May 31, 2022
Justice Clarence Thomas stated the damage done to the court by the leak was extreme.
“I do think that what happened at the court is tremendously bad,” Thomas said at a recent conference.
“I wonder how long we’re going to have these institutions at the rate we’re undermining them. And then I wonder when they’re gone or destabilized, what we will have as a country? And I don’t think the prospects are good if we continue to lose them,” he said.
H/T Western Journal
