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US Supreme Court releases leak investigation report

supremecourt.gov

61–70 of 108 posts

Re: US Supreme Court releases leak investigation report

#61

When I clerked for a judge (not on the Supreme Court), she sometimes asked me to write two draft opinions -- one where one side wins -- and another where the other side wins -- and she used those materials in drafting her ultimate opinion. There are so many different things going on in how judges write. I hope that they can get some _sense_ of security again so that they feel the freedom to be as open-minded as possi…

>I hope that they can get some _sense_ of security again so that they feel the freedom to be as open-minded as possible in figuring out the cases before them.

This presumes that the leaker wasn't one of the Justices themselves, when it almost certainly was.

Re: US Supreme Court releases leak investigation report

#62

When I clerked for a judge (not on the Supreme Court), she sometimes asked me to write two draft opinions -- one where one side wins -- and another where the other side wins -- and she used those materials in drafting her ultimate opinion. There are so many different things going on in how judges write. I hope that they can get some _sense_ of security again so that they feel the freedom to be as open-minded as possi…

That part of their deliberations already occurred... the leak was after the majority of the justices voted to approve the draft. That's why the final opinion matched so closely to the leaked version.

We have no idea what would’ve happened in a counter-factual scenario. The draft opinion is the first time the whole court sees the reasoning on paper. Even if the narrow holding doesn’t change, the reasoning used and the sweep of the rule articulated can and does change.

Re: US Supreme Court releases leak investigation report

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"There was no evidence discovered that anyone emailed the draft opinion to anyone else, although technical limitations in the Court’s computer recordkeeping at the time made it impossible to rule out this possibility entirely."

There’s a very real chance that this boils down to someone deleting the message from their sent box.

The real question is whether this lack strong of auditability is due to IT incompetence or by deliberate design.

I'd buy either explanation.

Re: US Supreme Court releases leak investigation report

#64
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Based on what evidence?

Because he's done it before https://www.axios.com/2022/11/29/supreme-court-alito-ethics-...

Did I miss something? The article claims Alito did it, but Alito never admitted it and no investigation came to the conclusion he did.

Re: US Supreme Court releases leak investigation report

#65
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I couldn’t find any evidence in that article? Just Alito and the Court denying he was responsible?

> The big picture: Rev. Rob Schenck, a former anti-abortion leader, previously told the New York Times that he learned of court's 2014 decision on Burwell v. Hobby Lobby weeks in advance, prompting a review from the Senate Judiciary Committee. That's evidence. Testimony is evidence.

An accusation is not proof and to top it off, doesn't prove it was Alito.

Re: US Supreme Court releases leak investigation report

#66
post #29
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because he's done it before https://www.axios.com/2022/11/29/supreme-court-alito-ethics-...

I'm in broad agreement with you, Alito more than likely leaked it himself, which is why no leaker will be found, the justices are above scrutiny. Absent finding another person who we can prove did it, I'll hold on to that idea.

[deleted]

Re: US Supreme Court releases leak investigation report

#67

I found it interesting that a lot of the reasons the report gives for not being able to identify the leaker seems to boil down to pretty basic cyber hygiene. "The investigators were not able to readily search and analyze all event logs because at the time the system lacked substantial logging and search functions."

The federal courts have very basic computer systems. When I was a clerk a decade ago in a circuit court, we didn’t even have a document management system or version control. I think there might have been a shared folder with word versions of old opinions.

Re: US Supreme Court releases leak investigation report

#69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s a very real chance that this boils down to someone deleting the message from their sent box.

The real question is whether this lack strong of auditability is due to IT incompetence or by deliberate design. I'd buy either explanation.

The court system operates almost entirely on trust and the threat of career-ending consequences for breach of trust.

Re: US Supreme Court releases leak investigation report

#70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah, the leaker was most likely Alito, who is on record as having done something like this before. He did it to keep Roberts's vote secure by publicly forcing the issue so he couldn't waver. That's why this report refuses to reach any conclusions, and why after initially thundering about the leak Roberts has been veeeeeeery quiet about this investigation.

Are you sure Alito is actually on record of having done it before? I know he was accused of doing it before, but as far as I can tell he never admitted it and no official investigation found any proof he did it. Am I missing something or are you jumping to a conclusion?

> Am I missing something or are you jumping to a conclusion?

Sadly, I think you are missing Alito's political slant. That aspect typically makes him a super villain and, of course, guilty of all accusations.

Accusations seem to carry far too much weight in modern times...

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