It’s been about a month since someone leaked a draft Supreme Court opinion that indicated that the Supreme Court may be ready to overturn Roe v. Wade. Since that time, not much has come out regarding who might have done it.
Conservatives believe it was a liberal, trying to somehow change what they believed was about to happen. Democrats have focused on protests for abortion rights, even marching in front of the homes of Supreme Court Justices, with the full support of Joe Biden.
Now, it appears that the investigation is heating up within the walls of the storied Supreme Court. Justice Roberts ordered the investigation on May 3, a day after the draft opinion was leaked. He met with the clerks as a group, reports CNN, but it is unknown if he or anyone has met with them individually.
The clerks have now been asked to turn over records from their personal cell phones, and to sign affidavits, reports CNN which says sources close to the investigation provided this information.
Attorneys are now weighing in about the development, saying the request by the Supreme Court is potentially more intrusive than probative, especially due to the extent of personal information that could be obtained from a person’s cell phone records. Because all Supreme Court clerks are either law students or have graduated law school, it is likely they will know to seek representation.
The cell phone data of every person, clerk or Justice, could provide powerful information and lead to the identity of the leaker. Using cell phone pings, if that data were still available, could lead to the identification of who interacted with someone from Politico, who first reported on the leak. The Supreme Court would need warrants to obtain the cell phone data, based upon their own opinion. Regarding their opinion on this issue, Conservatives on the Court did disagree with the final opinion, which held that the government would need a warrant to obtain cell phone data. Justice Samuel Alito opined that the ruling would threaten “many legitimate and valuable investigative practices.” Justice Alito is also the drafter of the opinion that was leaked.
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It remains clear that the Court is no closer to finding out who leaked the opinion than it was on May 2, the day the leak was first reported. It is imperative that the leaker, and their method for obtaining the draft opinion, be identified so that trust may be restored to the Court. Do you think we will ever know who did it?
