Chief Justice John Roberts Confirms Authenticity Of Draft Abortion Opinion, Orders Investigation Into SCOTUS Leak

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(Photo by Jabin Botsford – Pool/Getty Images)

The end of women’s reproductive freedom may be nigh, but John Roberts doesn’t want you to worry about that just yet. While the chief justice confirmed in a statement today that the leaked opinion that promises to all but decimate the right to an abortion is real, he wants to the world to know that it doesn’t represent “a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.” If that’s supposed to be comforting, let us assure you that it is not; almost half a century of precedent and the lives of countless women are standing at risk.

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Putting stare decisis aside (just like SCOTUS), we know that some of you are here for the palace intrigue of the leak and not its content. Fear not: Roberts has ordered that an investigation be launched into how this happened, referring to the leak as a “betrayal.” Here’s an excerpt from his statement:

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To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed. The work of the Court will not be affected in any way.

We at the Court are blessed to have a workforce – permanent employees and law clerks alike – intensely loyal to the institution and dedicated to the rule of law. Court employees have an exemplary and important tradition of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial process and upholding the trust of the Court. This was a singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the Court and the community of public servants who work here.

Phew! And here we thought that the most “egregious breach of [] trust” was the Court potentially pulling the rug out from under almost 50 years of jurisprudence concerning the constitutionality of the right to abortion.

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Veteran SCOTUS reporter Robert Barnes of the Washington Post notes that Roberts’s statement was an “extraordinary deviation” from the high court’s business as usual, and said it was a sign that “Roe v. Wade is too important, and the breach of Supreme Court operations too monumental, to ignore.”

Let’s hope that the justices who supported this destructive draft also realize that Roe v. Wade‘s precedent is too important to ignore.

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Roberts says leaked abortion opinion is authentic but not final, opens investigation [Washington Post]

Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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Abortion, Courts, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, SCOTUS Leak, Supreme Court, Supreme Court Leak