OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The U.S. Supreme Court ended its term on Thursday until October, and the identity of the individual who leaked the court’s Roe v. Wade draft opinion still remains a mystery.
Chief Justice John Roberts released a statement stating that the court has “acted upon all cases submitted to the Court for decision this Term,” and will be in recess until the first Monday in October.
“On behalf of all the Justices, I would like to thank the Supreme Court employees for their outstanding work and dedication to their important responsibilities this Term,” Roberts said. “I thank the members of the Court’s bar as well for their professionalism and cooperation.”
There has been no update or disclosure from the Supreme Court on the identity of the individual who leaked the draft opinion nearly two months ago.
Last week, the Supreme Court released its decision in the highly-anticipated case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
The court voted in favor of overturning Roe v Wade, the landmark case that legalized abortion.
In early May, a draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito was leaked to Politico and it set off a firestorm.
“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” Alito wrote in the leaked draft.
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” he wrote in the document. “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives. We, therefore, hold the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. Roe and Casey must be overruled, and the authority to regulate abortion must be returned to the people and their elected representatives.”
Shortly after the May 2nd leak, Chief Justice Roberts ordered the marshal of the court to probe the incident and find out who was responsible for it. At the time, Roberts said the intent of the leak was to “undermine the integrity of our operations.”
“It will not succeed,” he pledged.
Since the Dobbs v Jackson draft was leaked, pro-abortion activists have:
-Vandalized 16 churches
-Vandalized at least 16 pro-life pregnancy centers
-Firebombed 4 pro-life pregnancy centers and offices
-Attempted to assassinate a Supreme Court JusticeWhere’s the outrage?
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) June 24, 2022
Crazy how they still haven't found that Supreme Court leaker yet… especially with the extremely limited amount of people who would have access to that document.
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) June 29, 2022
So… we catch the Supreme Court leaker yet?
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) June 25, 2022
“This leak was intended to intimidate the justices and threaten the whole institution of the Court. Now the Court is facing an all-out assault from the left with an assassination attempt on a sitting justice and elected Democrats declaring an entire branch of government ‘illegitimate,’” Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley said.
“Thankfully, the leak did not change the outcome of this monumental case, but we need to get to the bottom of what happened and ensure it never does again,” he added.
“I would hope that the Chief Justice is treating the investigation with great urgency given that the current clerks are nearly done with the term and he will soon lose whatever leverage he currently has,” Judicial Crisis Network President Carrie Severino said.
She went on to suggest that “pressure to get to the bottom of the leak may wane” now that the court has issued its opinion on Dobbs.
“Unfortunately, a failure to identify and punish the culprit will only incentivize future leaks — serving to undermine the functioning of the Court and potentially endanger the justices,” she added.
Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz also offered his opinion of who he believes the “leaker” could be.
To those points, the leak prompted attacks on Catholic churches, according to a Catholic Vote tracker, as well as dozens of pro-life pregnancy centers around the U.S.
Also, one man traveled across the country from California to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home with the original intention of assassinating him. Thankfully, he called the police and turned himself in before attempting to do anything.
The man admitted to authorities that he sought to kill Kavanaugh.
