DeSantis calls Supreme Court leak a 'judicial insurrection'

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Heated protests outside Supreme Court ahead of abortion decision

A pro-choice protester confronts pro-life protesters praying outside the Supreme Court.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis described the Supreme Court leak of a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade as a "judicial insurrection" on Tuesday.

"To have that leak out the way it did was really unprecedented," DeSantis said during an unrelated press conference in Fort Myers. "And I think it was really an attack on a lot of the justices. I think it was intentional to try to whip up a lot of the public, to try to make it very political, and potentially try to bully one of them into changing their positions. And that is not something that’s appropriate for the judicial branch."

Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, U.S., on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022.  (Tristan Wheelock/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts announced Tuesday that he has called upon the Supreme Court marshal to investigate the leak of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's majority opinion to revoke the landmark 1973 case in its ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

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DeSantis said the person responsible for leaking the document should be "held accountable."

"I know they launched an investigation, so they need to figure out who did that, and they need to hold them accountable, because that is a real, significant breach of trust," he said. "You want to talk about an insurrection – that’s a judicial insurrection to be taking that out and trying to kneecap a potential majority through extra-constitutional means. So I was really surprised to see that, but we will see what ends up being the result going forward."

The governor added that he "believes in pro-life protections," and that such protections are "based in science" and "based in who we are as a society."

Florida's constitution protects abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, but DeSantis recently signed a bill banning most abortions after 15 weeks. The law, which is set to take place on July 1, is facing legal challenges and relies on the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.