Supreme Court is unable to ID the leaker in Dobbs decision

The Marshal of the Supreme Court "has to date been unable to identify a person responsible" for leaking the Dobbs v. Jackson decision last May, the U.S. Supreme Court said in a release Thursday.

The court called the leak "one of the worst breaches of trust in its history."

"The leak was no mere misguided attempt at protest," the court said. "It was a grave assault on the judicial process."

It said the leak prompted the court to launch a thorough investigation, which was conducted by the Marshal of the Supreme Court and her staff.

"After months of diligent analysis of forensic evidence and interviews of almost 100 employees, the Marshal's team determined that no further investigation was warranted with respect to many of the '82 employees [who] had access to electronic or hard copies of the draft opinion,' " the court said. "In following up on all available leads, however, the Marshal's team performed additional forensic analysis and conducted multiple follow-up interviews of certain employees."

The court consulted former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff "to assess the Marshal's investigation," which he deemed "thorough."

The Marshal reports that "investigators continue to review and process some electronic data that has been collected and a few other inquiries remain pending," the court said. "To the extent that additional investigation yields new evidence or leads, the investigators will pursue them." [Copyright 2023 NPR]