The United States Supreme Court says it has not determined who leaked a draft of the court’s opinion overturning the 1973 decision that had legalised abortion but that the investigation continues.

Eight months after Politico published its explosive leak detailing the draft of Justice Samuel Alito’s opinion that overturned Roe v Wade, the court said its investigative team “has to date been unable to identify a person responsible by a preponderance of the evidence”.

But it concluded: “Whether or not any individual is ever identified as the source of the disclosure, the court should take action to create and implement better policies to govern the handling of court-sensitive information and determine the best IT systems for security and collaboration.”

Never before had an entire opinion made its way to the public before the country’s top judicial body was ready to announce it.

Chief Justice John Roberts ordered an investigation the next day into what he termed an “egregious breach of trust”.

The draft opinion, authored by conservative Justice Samuel Alito, was only marginally different than the final decision issued on June 24.

The ruling upheld a Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy and ended the recognition of a woman’s right to an abortion under the US constitution.

with Reuters