{"id":1609015,"date":"2022-08-16T14:46:07","date_gmt":"2022-08-16T18:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1609015"},"modified":"2022-08-16T14:46:35","modified_gmt":"2022-08-16T18:46:35","slug":"john-roberts-failure-to-bring-dobbs-leaker-to-justice-sets-a-dangerous-precedent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/john-roberts-failure-to-bring-dobbs-leaker-to-justice-sets-a-dangerous-precedent\/","title":{"rendered":"John Roberts\u2019 Failure To Bring Dobbs Leaker To Justice Sets A Dangerous Precedent"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjohn-roberts-failure-to-bring-dobbs-leaker-to-justice-sets-a-dangerous-precedent%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1609015&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>More than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/100-days-attacks-protests-and-an-alleged-assassination-attempt-later-the-supreme-court-leaker-remains-unknown\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">100 days<\/a> have passed since the infamous leak of the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s majority draft opinion in <em>Dobbs v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization<\/em> and Americans are still no closer to finding out the identity of the leaker than the day the draft decision was published.<\/p>\n<p>Not long after its publication in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2022\/05\/02\/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Politico<\/a> on May 2, Chief Justice John Roberts released a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/publicinfo\/press\/pressreleases\/pr_05-03-22\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">public statement<\/a> confirming the authenticity of the draft opinion, while also announcing the launch of an internal investigation to identify the leaker.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis 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,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI have directed the Marshal of the Court to launch an investigation into the source of the leak.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Threats against the Court<\/h2>\n<p>Unfortunately for the Republican-appointed majority on the court, the damage had already been done. Almost immediately following the release of the draft opinion, leftist anarchists orchestrated a threat and intimidation campaign to scare Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh into switching their votes on the <em>Dobbs<\/em> case and upholding the 1973 <em>Roe v. Wade<\/em> decision that invented a constitutional \u201cright\u201d to abortions.<\/p>\n<p>Left-wing activist groups such as Shut Down D.C. and Ruth Sent Us <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/06\/14\/john-roberts-refusal-to-release-dobbs-opinion-is-jeopardizing-the-lives-of-his-colleagues\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">organized demonstrations<\/a> outside the homes of Alito and Barrett, with the latter group even going as far as to target Barrett\u2019s church and children. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you\u2019re in the DC metro area, join us. Our protests at Barrett\u2019s home moved the needle to this coverage,\u201d the group said in a\u00a0now-unavailable tweet. \u201cFalls Church is a People of Praise stronghold. She sends her seven kids to a People of Praise school that she sat on the Board of Directors for. She attends church DAILY.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While picketing outside the home of a judge or justice with the intent to influence judicial outcomes is a federal crime, Attorney General Merrick Garland has refused to uphold the law and charge demonstrators under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/uscode\/text\/18\/1507\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">18 U.S. Code \u00a7 1507<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The most horrifying of the threats, however, came in early June when a mentally unstable leftist attempted to assassinate Justice Kavanaugh at his Maryland home over the judge\u2019s support of striking down <em>Roe<\/em>. While grievous in nature, the story received virtually <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/kavanaugh-assassination-attempt-ignored-sunday-shows\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">no coverage<\/a> by legacy media\u2019s Sunday news shows and was <a href=\"https:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/york-times-buries-kavanaugh-assassination-143847854.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">buried<\/a> by The New York Times.<\/p>\n<h2>Americans Deserve an Answer<\/h2>\n<p>Despite his tough rhetoric in condemning the draft decision\u2019s leak, Chief Justice Roberts has yet to provide any details about whether the court\u2019s inquiry has identified the individual responsible, let alone if the investigation remains ongoing. Given the long-held and respected inner workings of SCOTUS and the small pool of individuals granted access to draft opinions, it seems highly irregular that court authorities have not yet publicly identified the leaker.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of the investigation\u2019s status, however, Roberts\u2019 failure to provide swift and deserved accountability to the individual responsible sets a dangerous precedent, one where overtly political figures operating at the high court can leak decisions ahead of their release without fear of repercussion. While the court\u2019s current conservative majority stood firm in the face of vile threats coming from left-wing activists this time, there\u2019s no guarantee that such a trend will hold regarding other high-profile cases in the future, or that future justices will possess similar fortitude. <\/p>\n<p>If Roberts truly had any interest in preserving the image of the court as has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/roberts-switched-views-to-uphold-health-care-law\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claimed<\/a>, he should move to disclose any information about the status of the investigation and any of its conclusive findings. Anything short is simply playing politics and further contributing to Americans\u2019 increasing distrust of their country\u2019s institutions.<\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court\u2019s Public Information Office did not respond to The Federalist\u2019s inquiry as to whether the investigation ordered by Roberts remains ongoing or if the individual responsible for the draft opinion\u2019s leak has been identified.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Shawn Fleetwood is an intern at The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He also serves as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More than 100 days have passed since the infamous leak of the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s majority draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization and Americans are still no<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1609015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1609015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1609015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1609015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1609015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1609015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1609015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}