Well, here we go again—another Supreme Court leak, and surprise, surprise, the usual crowd is already celebrating.
Recently published internal memos have given liberals new material to push their long-standing criticism of the Court’s emergency docket, a process they claim has helped advance key parts of President Donald Trump’s agenda. According to South Texas College of Law professor Josh Blackman, the reaction from the left is exactly what you’d expect: they’re “salivating.”
The memos, published by The New York Times, reveal how Chief Justice John Roberts in 2016 encouraged the Court to move quickly in blocking President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan. That decision, made in a tight 5-4 ruling, has now been dragged back into the spotlight—conveniently aligning with ongoing liberal complaints about the so-called “shadow docket.”
But let’s be honest—the real issue here isn’t what the memos say. It’s the fact that they were leaked at all.
Experts are sounding the alarm that this wasn’t some accidental slip-up. According to Blackman, the leak appears to be a deliberate attempt to damage the Court’s credibility—and possibly target Roberts himself. George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley echoed that sentiment, arguing that the controversy over the Court’s procedures is secondary to the far more troubling reality: someone inside the system is willing to break confidentiality for political purposes.
And if this feels familiar, it should.
Turley pointed to the 2022 leak of the Dobbs opinion as another major breach, though that one appeared aimed at influencing an active decision. This time, the memos relate to an older case, which suggests something different—something more calculated. As Turley put it, this leak seems to serve a “purely malicious purpose” to embarrass or disrupt the Court.
Of course, some on the left are already using the documents to criticize how the Court handles emergency decisions. Environmental Defense Fund general counsel Vickie Patton argued that the case highlights concerns about fast-tracked rulings affecting national policy. But critics of the leak say that’s missing the point entirely.
Because if internal Supreme Court deliberations can be exposed whenever it’s politically convenient, then the integrity of the institution itself is at risk.
There’s also growing speculation about who could be behind the leak, with some theories pointing toward liberal justices, former justices, or even clerks. Notably, a similar leak to The New York Times occurred just last year. Coincidence? Maybe. But it’s starting to look like a pattern.
And through it all, the Supreme Court has remained silent, declining to comment on the situation.
At the end of the day, disagreements over legal philosophy are nothing new. But undermining the Court from within? That’s a different story entirely.
If anything, this moment highlights just how important it is to protect the institutions that uphold the Constitution—because without that foundation, the entire system starts to crack. And ensuring that foundation stays strong is something every American, regardless of politics, should be able to get behind.