With last week's leak of the draft Supreme Court decision effectively overturning Roe v. Wade, the public reaction — especially on social media — has been swift and impassioned. On one side, it has been substantive: women sharing their abortion stories and pleading for bodily autonomy, and doctors expressing concern about potential criminal penalties for performing the procedure. On the other side, including conservative #LawTwitter, it has been entirely consumed by the leak — and specifically by the identity of the leaker.
There have been several Twitter threads, viewed by millions of eyes, purporting to suggest (but allegedly not to "dox") the identity of the leaker. The authors of these threads have been predominantly conservative, middle-aged white men, many with law degrees. They have been retweeted by popular voices supportive of Donald Trump, with large MAGA followings. They have (mostly) named female clerks and male clerks of color, included their pictures, their full names and their educational histories. The evidence offered includes the topic of a clerk's master's thesis, where the individual went to school and their major and — it seems — their personal identities as nonwhite and/or female. Most of the threads have included legalistic caveats that they are not intended as accusations and that they are effectively researched speculation. The clerks identified in their widely read threads are those who work for the court's three "liberal" justices.
