Supreme Court confirms authenticity of leaked Roe v. Wade draft opinion, opens investigation
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The Supreme Court announced Tuesday both its confirmation of a draft decision indicating a plan to overturn Roe v. Wade and its order to investigate the leak of the draft.
A letter from the office of public information calls the leaked draft, obtained by Politico Monday night, “authentic”—but clarified that it “does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.”
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Justice John G. Roberts condemns the leak as a “betrayal of confidences” and writes that it was “intended to undermine the integrity of the operations,” adding that it will “not succeed.”
Roberts went on to refer to the leak as “a singular and egregious breach” of trust and an “affront to the Court, and the community of public servants who work here.” Roberts says that he’s directed the Marshal of the Court to open an investigation into the leak.
Yale law professor and former Supreme Court clerk Amy Kapczynski speculates that the leak came from a “conservative fanatically committed to every word of Justice Samuel Alito’s draft.”
Kapczynski’s Twitter thread highlights the timing of the leak.
“If a liberal was mad about it, why wait until April to send it to Politico? The op will be out in June. What are the benefits of releasing it early? And a BIG downside—the focus on the leak itself instead of the opinion,” Kapczynski tweeted.
Kapczynski says draft “majorities circulate first, and then concurrences and dissents. So this is about the right timing for concurrences to come out. I think best bet is that Chief Justice Roberts circulated one recently, adopting a more moderate position… Maybe Roberts says abortions ok in some time frame, preserving exceptions for the life of the woman, etc. And Kavanaugh is tempted by it—maybe not enough to vote for it, but enough to demand some changes to the Alito opinion.”
Essentially, Kapczynski says leaks are a well-sharpened tool conservatives use to show they’re bold enough to break the rules and public trust to get what they want… and then blame the left. But, in the end, the leak isn’t the story. The opinion is.