Washington — Chief Justice John Roberts denounced the leak of a draft opinion revealed by Politico that indicated the court docket may overturn the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, calling its launch a “betrayal of the confidences of the court docket” and saying he directed the marshal of the court docket to launch an investigation.
“This was a singular and egregious breach of that belief that’s an affront to the court docket and the group of public servants who work right here,” he mentioned in an announcement Tuesday.
Roberts additionally mentioned efforts to “undermine the integrity” of the Supreme Courtroom’s operations won’t succeed.
“The work of the court docket won’t be affected in any method,” he mentioned. “We on the court docket are blessed to have a workforce — everlasting staff and regulation clerks alike — intensely loyal to the establishment and devoted to the rule of regulation. Courtroom staff have an exemplary and essential custom of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial course of and upholding the belief of the court docket.”
The Supreme Courtroom additionally confirmed the authenticity of the doc, however pressured that the draft doesn’t signify the ultimate choice of the court docket.
“Though the doc described in yesterday’s experiences is genuine, it doesn’t signify a choice by the court docket or the ultimate place of any member on the problems within the case,” the court docket mentioned in an announcement.
The draft opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, seems to have been circulated among the many justices in February. However votes by the court docket’s members can change as drafts are exchanged, and a choice shouldn’t be remaining till it’s handed down by the Supreme Courtroom, on this case, by late June or early July.
The assertion from the court docket notes that justices “flow into draft opinions internally as a routine and important a part of the court docket’s confidential deliberative work.”
On Capitol Hill, Senate Minority Chief Mitch McConnell mentioned the leak of the draft opinion was an “assault” on the court docket’s independence, and denounced Democrats for “play[ing] into this poisonous spectacle.”
“Final evening’s beautiful breach was an assault on the independence of the Supreme Courtroom. By each indication, this was yet one more escalation within the radical left’s ongoing marketing campaign to bully and intimidate federal judges and substitute mob rule for the rule of regulation,” the GOP chief mentioned in an announcement.
McConnell mentioned the “lawless” leak “needs to be investigated and punished as absolutely as potential,” including that the chief justice “should resolve it and the Division of Justice should pursue prison prices if relevant.”