SCOTUS has confirmed the authenticity of the leaked draft opinion that called for the overturn of Roe vs Wade, with Chief Justice John Roberts announcing an investigation to find the person behind the “egregious” leak.
Some experts have said that the leaking of the draft opinion may be a federal crime, according to U.S. law code.
18 U.S. Code § 641 says that anyone who “embezzles, steals, purloins, or knowingly converts to his use or the use of another, or without authority, sells, conveys or disposes of any record…or thing of value of the United States or of any department or agency thereof” will face criminal penalties, as Breitbart reported first.
Further, 18 U.S. Code § 2071 provides criminal penalties for “[w]hoever willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, or destroys, or attempts to do so, or, with intent to do so takes and carries away any record, proceeding, map, book, paper, document, or other thing, filed or deposited with any clerk or officer of any court of the United States, or in any public office, or with any judicial or public officer of the United States.”
The leaker, if working as an employee of the judicial branch, could be in violation of the aforementioned statutes for leaking the draft opinion to Politico, who published the information on Monday.
The draft opinion was written by Justice Samuel Alito in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case and is currently being looked at by the Supreme Court. The opinion would repeal Roe vs Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion across the country.
Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the existence of the leak today, and also confirmed that the draft opinion published by Politico yesterday is “authentic.”
The Supreme Court He also launched an investigation to determine the identity of the leaker.
As Valiant News reported, Alito wrote in the opinion, which was allegedly supported by Justices Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Coney Barrett, that Roe was “egregiously wrong from the start,” and that it must be overruled in order to “heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
It was noted in the statement from SCOTUS that the draft opinion was circulated internally “as a routine and essential part of the Court’s confidential deliberative work,” and that it “does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.”
