WASHINGTON — Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. confirmed Tuesday that a leaked draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade is “authentic” and said the Supreme Court will launch its own investigation into the source of the unauthorized release.
“To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed,” he said. “The work of the court will not be affected.”
The court’s statement stressed that while “the document described in yesterday’s report is authentic, it does not represent a decision by the court or the final position of any members on the issues in the case.”
Even before Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.'s draft was leaked, the chief justice was in an awkward spot in the pending abortion case.
Roberts appears to prefer to move cautiously on a Mississippi abortion case and decide only the issue of the 15-week ban on abortion, rather than move to overturn the landmark Roe ruling.
But the five justices on his right sounded ready during December’s arguments to go much further. It was unclear whether Roberts would issue a separate concurrence for himself or relent and join the conservative bloc in overturning the abortion right.
His press statement spoke of the importance of confidentiality during the court’s deliberations.
“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,” he said. “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. I have directed the Marshal of the Court to launch an investigation into the source of the leak.”
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., described the leak as an effort to “intimidate” the Supreme Court and called for the Justice Department to get involved in identifying the source.
“Last night’s stunning breach was an attack on the independence of the Supreme Court,” he said. “By every indication, this was yet another escalation in the radical left’s ongoing campaign to bully and intimidate federal judges and substitute mob rule for the rule of law.”
He spoke shortly before Roberts announced the court will investigate the leak.
