In new comments, Justice Samuel Alito slammed the leak of the Dobbs decision this Spring as very problematic for member of the Supreme Court and their safety.
Altio, who wrote the eventual Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, said the leak put members of the nation’s highest court in a position of being “targets for assassinations” because the leak led to intense protests outside their homes that threatened their lives and the lives of their families and children. Ultimately, one leftist did attempt to assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh and currently faces criminal charges as a result.
“The leak also made those of us who were thought to be in the majority in support of overruling Roe and Casey targets for assassination because it gave people a rational reason to think they could prevent that from happening by killing one of us. And we know that,” Justice Alito said at an event sponsored by the Heritage Foundation.
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Nicholas Roske, 26, was arrested in June near the home of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh in Montgomery County, Maryland, and charged with plotting to kill him. The California man has pleaded not guilty.
“A man has been charged with attempting to kill Justice Kavanaugh. It’s a pending case so I won’t say anything more about that,” Justice Alito said.
The conservative jurist said members of the Supreme Court and their staff and families want to get back to normal.
“I think that all of us, all of the justices, and I think the people who work in the building — we have a wonderful staff, I’ll add that — want things to get back to normal, the way they before all this last term, before COVID, get back to normal to the greatest degree possible, and that’s what we hope will happen,” he said. “And I think everybody is working on that.”
“It was a grave betrayal of trust by somebody, and it was a shock because nothing like that had happened in the past, so it certainly changed the atmosphere at the court for the remainder of last term,” Justice Alito said.
Although Chief Justice John Roberts has ordered an investigation into the leak, the source of the leak has never been found. Meanwhile, the FBI has arrested over 22 pro-life advocates for peacefully protesting abortion.
Alito also opposed efforts by Democrats to pack the court as a means of protesting the Dobbs decision and forcing a liberal majority on the Court since they don’t like the current outcome of cases. But he said ultimately it’s a decision for Congress.
“I think personally — here again I have no special status in talking about this — nine is a good number,” he said. “Somewhere in the middle range. Some state supreme courts have seven. They find that workable. Something in sort of the middle range would be a good number.”
