SCOTUS Clerks Consider Lawyering Up As Leak Investigation Seeks Private Cell Phone Records
TownhallSep 09, 2022
Report: SCOTUS Clerk Phone Records Requested as Leak Investigation Intensifies
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Image copyright: AP [via Townhall]
The Facts
US Supreme Court officials are escalating their search for the source of the leaked draft opinion of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, and are reportedly taking steps to require clerks to provide cellphone records and sign affidavits.
On May 3, Chief Justice Roberts ordered the court's marshal, Gail Curley, whose usual job is to oversee the building's police officers, to lead the probe.
The Spin
Republican narrative
The unprecedented leak was an attempt to severely damage the Supreme Court. This campaign was clearly coordinated to intimidate and obstruct the Court's Justices and the independence of the Court itself. Those involved must be held accountable.
Democratic narrative
There is an inescapable irony to the fact that SCOTUS clerks might be forced to litigate for privacy rights over a leaked decision undermining the privacy rights of women across the US. There's no doubt that the anonymity of the leaker is fostering an environment of hostility and suspicion in the Court, but more important is the threat to reproductive decisions the leak has revealed.
