Kimberly Humphrey in Ms. Magazine: The Supreme Court Dobbs Leak Never Really Mattered. They Just Told Us So.
This excerpt is from a piece that originally ran on January 20, 2022.
It still doesn’t matter who leaked the Supreme Court’s opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, but the Court’s inconclusive investigation into the leak is a stark reminder of how desperately it needs to be reformed.
The leak was a distraction meant to shift focus away from where is should have been: the disastrous harm that overturning Roe for the women, trans and nonbinary people who depend on abortion access to obtain the reproductive healthcare they deserve. Dobbs was just one of many Supreme Court decisions that has been chipping away at the civil rights of all people.
The Court’s investigation, which did not identify the source of the leak, proves just how unseriously it considered this matter. According to the investigation report, the marshal’s investigation included “126 formal interviews of 97 employees,” all of whom denied leaking it. Though it was unclear, the Court has since clarified that the marshal did speak with the justices, but did not require them to sign sworn affidavits.
This huge gap in the investigation speaks to how invincible the justices see themselves. They wanted to know who the leak was—so long as they weren’t treated as suspects themselves. They are used to their power being truly supreme—with no accountability to anyone—and if the investigation pointed the finger at one of them, it would severely undermine that perception.