The Supreme Court sent out its order list several days early due to an “apparent software malfunction,” according to the court.
The malfunction made the orders about which cases would be granted or denied their review to be released on Friday afternoon instead of Monday morning.
The high court is generally secretive about its opinions and decisions, but the mistake is the second within the last year. June is considered the busiest month for the court. The leak caused confusion among attorneys who saw the order list in their email but not on the court’s docket.
As a result of the order list’s mistaken release, the court decided to post the complete list on Friday afternoon. Orders included a decision to hear an Alabama capital murder case in which a defendant was convicted and sentenced to death for a murder in 1997. There is debate about whether the defendant, who has an IQ just over 70, is eligible for the death penalty because he is intellectually disabled.
The court turned away a Republican National Committee challenge to block an option for Pennsylvania voters to do an in-person, do-over ballot if they return a defective mail ballot. The high court also rejected a case involving a ban on high-capacity magazines in the District of Columbia.
One of the Supreme Court’s most controversial leaks happened in 2022 with a draft opinion from Justice Samuel Alito that overturned the landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade. The leak prompted an investigation, which found no specific source for who leaked the opinion.
Steve Vladeck, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center and CNN analyst, told CNN that it was not “a great look” for the court.
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“Accidents happen, and the court should be encouraged to provide more access to its rulings, like the email notification service that apparently caused today’s glitch,” he said.
“That said, this is the second high-profile premature release of rulings in the last year,” Vladeck said. “Whether it’s a sign that the court is juggling too many balls at once or a symptom of some other problem, it’s not a great look for an institution the authority of which depends so profoundly on public confidence.”