By Le Figaro with AFP
Published on 01/19/2023 at 10:05 p.m
On May 2, 2022, the Politico newspaper announced that the Supreme Court was preparing to blast abortion rights and published the draft of its decision. JONATHAN ERNST / Portal
The United States Supreme Court announced Thursday that it has not identified the author of the leak of its historic ruling on abortion after more than eight months of painstaking investigation. On May 2, 2022, the Politico newspaper announced that the Supreme Court was preparing to blast abortion rights and published the draft of its decision.
This unprecedented leak bombed Washington, provoking large demonstrations by abortion rights defenders. It also rocked legal circles, as the Supreme Court is known for jealously guarding the secrecy of its deliberations. Its leader, John Roberts, condemned the “betrayal” and immediately ordered an internal investigation to find the source of the leak.
“No need for further investigation”
“After months of careful evaluation of evidence and questioning of almost 100 employees,” the investigators came to the conclusion that “there was no need for further investigation with regard to the majority of the 82 employees who had access to the preliminary draft of the judgment,” the court writes in a press release. “Some employees” were questioned again, “but the team has not yet been able to identify the person responsible with sufficient evidence,” she adds.
The court said it asked federal judge and former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff for an advisory opinion, but he did not identify any “additional” investigative elements that could advance the investigation. The investigative report released on Thursday adds that it is “unlikely that anyone outside the court was able to gain access to its computer systems”.
Also read Constitutionalization of Abortion: RN and LR in the Tactical Majority Trap
The development of teleworking during the pandemic has “created an environment where it is too easy to get sensitive information out of the court building and servers,” the authors point out, recommending tightening procedures.
On June 24, as announced by Politico, the Supreme Court vacated its case against Roe v. Wade, which has guaranteed women’s right to abortion since 1973. Since then, about fifteen states have outright banned abortion on their soil.