(Washington) One of the nine conservative justices of the United States Supreme Court said in a rare interview released Friday that he and some of his colleagues have become a potential “target for assassination,” revealing last year that the House of Law is a landmark. It was preparing to repeal the constitutional right to abortion.
Samuel Alito, the author of the decision that effectively buried the federal guarantee of abortion, told the Wall Street Journal that he had a “very precise idea” of the author of the leak, who created the bombshell effect. in the country by May 2022. But he did not say more about the presumed identity of this person.
The Supreme Court was profoundly reshuffled by former Republican President Donald Trump, who brought in three justices, cementing his conservative majority (six out of nine justices).
“Those of us who were supposed to be the majority, who approved my draft decision, are actually (potentially) assassination targets,” he said. “It is rational for people to believe that they can stop the outcome by killing one of us,” he added.
Mr. Alito “doesn’t feel physically at risk because we have a lot of security.”
He said he moves “basically in a tank”, adding that “I don’t really go anywhere without a tank and without my police officers”.
As for the leak, “I personally have a very precise idea of who is responsible, but to designate someone, a different level of evidence is necessary,” he said.
He said the publication of the draft decision had “created an atmosphere of suspicion and mistrust” in the court.
“This year, I think, we’re trying to get back to normal as much as possible … but it’s done some damage,” he said.
This unprecedented leak, revealed by the Politico site, caused an earthquake. The media reported that they had obtained a draft of the majority resolution authored by Samuel Alito.
In this text, Magistrate Roe v. Wade, who argued nearly half a century ago that the U.S. Constitution protected women’s right to abortion, was “totally off base from the start.”
“Roe v. Wade should be overturned,” said Samuel Alito, who said the right to abortion “is not protected by any provision of the Constitution.”
The decision finally dropped on June 24, 2022, two months after the leak.
Today, “we’re criticized every day, and I think it’s often unfair,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “Nobody, almost nobody protects us.”
Asked by one of his colleagues in court, Conservative Clarence Thomas, about the ethical questions raised by an American media outlet about the billionaire, Mr. Alito said he prefers not to talk about the matter.
