Someone among the tiny group that has access to unreleased Supreme Court opinions – nine Justices, 36 clerks, 27 administrative assistants, an unknown but undoubtedly small number of IT staffers – filched a draft opinion and handed it to a Politico receiver of stolen goods. The opinion has caused a stir; the leak seems to interest only conservative commentators. President Biden’s silly statement denouncing the Court, in which he announced ex cathedra that Roe v. Wade “says what all basic mainstream religions have historically concluded”, didn’t contain even a pro forma “of course stealing judges’ papers is bad”. Asked directly, “Do you think that this leak has irreparably changed the Court?”, he ignored the question.
Chief Justice Roberts has ordered the Court’s marshal to investigate the leak. Whether the culprit will be found seems dubious, but there are three guilty parties who can be identified and who, although they almost certainly cannot be prosecuted, can be shunned by all polite company. They are Politico and the two writers whose names appear on the story proclaiming the leak: Josh Gerstein and Alexander Ward.
Neither the web publisher nor its employees innocently picked up the draft opinion from off the street. They knew that it was stolen. They knew that no Supreme Court opinion has ever, in the history of the United States of America, been released without the Court’s authorization, no matter how important or controversial its subject. They knew that, in the normal course of its activity, the Court would have published its decision within the next two months. They knew that the Justices often continue considering and refining opinions until shortly before they are announced. They knew that the Court’s effectiveness has for over two centuries depended crucially on trust among the Justices and their staff.
They knew and didn’t care. For the frisson of a “big story”, and almost certainly with the hope of assisting the Democratic Party, they peddled their ill-gotten goods and inflicted serious harm on our nation’s highest judicial body. Honorable men would have written a story beginning, “Today, a person connected to the Supreme Court attempted to give Politico confidential Court documents concerning an upcoming decision. Politico has returned the documents unread to the Court chambers and advised the Justices of the identity of the miscreant.”
One of the benefits of an unfettered press is that scoundrels eventually identify themselves. Remember their names and cover them with maledictions: Politico, Gerstein, Ward.
Addendum: It is instructive to compare progressive insouciance about the theft of a draft Supreme Court opinion to the fury unleashed against the computer repair shop owner who exposed the content of Hunter Biden’s famous laptop. In addition to being accused by prominent Democrats and former intelligence community leaders of peddling “Russian disinformation”, he “was bombarded with hate mail and death threats revolving around the idea that I was a hacker, a thief and a criminal” and eventually “was forced to close his computer repair business near the Biden family homes in Greenville, Delaware, after people started throwing vegetables, eggs and dog excrement at his store”. Messrs. Gerstein and Ward face no worse consequences than lionization for their “courage”.
Further Reading: Andrew McCarthy, “The Supreme Court’s integrity demands its leaker be prosecuted – and the decision released now”
Comments