Dobbs leak endangered Supreme Court justices, Alito says

The May leak of a Dobbs v. Jackson draft opinion made conservative justices targets for assassination, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito told The Heritage Foundation last night. The Dobbs decision removed federal protection of abortion by overturning Roe v. Wade in June. He said the leak gave some people a reason to think they could stop the opinion from being released. One man is now on trial for allegedly attempting to assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Did the leak change anything at the court? Alito said the leak was a “grave betrayal” and a “shock.” It changed the atmosphere in the court, he said, but once the new term started the justices wanted to get back to normal. The court still isn’t quite the same, but they’re hoping to eventually normalize, he said. Leaks from the Supreme Court are historically rare and one is being investigated, but Alito did not give any updates on the investigation.

Dig deeper: Read Leah Savas’ report in Vitals on an increasing number of local cases stemming from nonviolent pro-life rescues.