The leak sparked a political storm, with abortion-rights supporters staging rallies outside the courthouse and other locations across the US, as well as an internal crisis at the nation’s top court. where an investigation into the source of this unprecedented disclosure is ongoing.
Thomas, one of the more conservative justices on the nine-member court, made only passing references to the protests over the leaked draft notice during his speech at an Atlanta court conference.
As a society, “we become dependent on wanting to achieve particular results, not living with the results we don’t like,” Thomas said.
“We can’t be an institution that can be bullied into just giving you the results you want. The events earlier this week are a symptom of that.”
Police surrounded the court with tall black fences following the protests, which were peaceful.
The draft opinion, written by conservative Judge Samuel Alito and published Monday by news outlet Politico, would uphold a Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy and reverse the landmark Roe v. Wade in 1973 which legalized abortion nationwide.
The court confirmed the authenticity of the document but qualified it as preliminary. The court is due to render its decision in this case by the end of June.
On Friday, Alito canceled his attendance at another court conference, instead sending a video message in which he told attendees it would have been “inconvenient” to attend, according to people who attended the conference.
Thomas, a Georgia native, spoke at the 11th Circuit Judicial Conference, a gathering of attorneys and judges from the Atlanta-based federal appeals court and federal district courts in Georgia, Florida and Florida. Alabama.
On Thursday, Mr Roberts told conference attendees the leak was “absolutely nasty” but promised it would not affect the court’s work.