The original Roe v. Wade decision was also LEAKED in 1973 and angered the chief justice so much he threatened staff with lie detector tests
By Mia Jankowicz
Washington, DC, is reeling from Monday’s leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion that appears to show the court ready to overturn Roe v. Wade.
But it’s not the first leak associated with the Supreme Court or the landmark abortion case: The original decision was also leaked five decades ago, infuriating the then-chief justice so much that he threatened clerks with lie detector tests.
In 1973, both Roe v. Wade’s decision and some of its deliberations were leaked to Time magazine and The Washington Post, both of which published articles before the ruling was made public.
Then-Chief Justice Warren Burger was “livid” about the leak, and wrote to all justices demanding that the leaker be found, the lawyer and author James Robenalt wrote in The Washington Post.
He said that if nobody came forward he would demand lie detector tests for the court’s clerks, per Robenalt’s account in The Post.
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Leaking information to the public is as American as diabetes, only it’s much, much healthier.