MUM’S THE WORD

Justice Samuel Alito Dodges Question About Leaked Roe Draft

“This is a subject I told myself I wasn’t going to talk about today regarding, you know.”

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito nearly finished his virtual panel with an audience at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School in Virginia on Thursday when someone asked the question everyone was likely thinking. Alito lit up the world when his draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked to Politico, setting off nationwide protests—including in front of his personal residence—and backpedaling from other justices on the Supreme Court who said no decision has been made. “I think it would just be really helpful for all of us to hear, personally, are you all doing OK in these very challenging times?” the audience member asked as the final question. “This is a subject I told myself I wasn’t going to talk about today regarding, you know—given all the circumstances,” Alito replied, without addressing the circumstances. “The court right now, we had our conference this morning, we’re doing our work. We’re taking new cases, we’re headed toward the end of the term, which is always a frenetic time as we get our opinions out,” he said, ending his address with: “So that’s where we are.”