# Why is the Supreme Court so good at preventing leaks **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 29, 2012, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-supreme-court-so-good-at-preventing-leaks/617192 "2012-03-29T19:10:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-supreme-court-so-good-at-preventing-leaks/617192/41 "2012-04-01T16:16:22Z")
The wording will be sufficiently precise that it will either overturn a whole lot of previous case law (sloppy) or add significantly to the precise road map of what the feds can or cannot do when invoking interstate commerce. They might even agree to disagree, and decide it is a tax issue, and punt it 3 years down the road when it’s too late. Plus, they would have to decide how much else of the law is invalid if the compulsory insurance is. Any such decision would be seriously reviewed and re-reviewed in conference, I assume, before anyone would sign off on it. The current vote is only the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-supreme-court-so-good-at-preventing-leaks/617192/42 "2012-04-01T16:29:05Z")
I’ll bet Anthony Kennedy turns off his cell phone when he gets home. Can you imagine how much arm twisting he gets at work? I’ll bet Scalia chews on his ear for half the day and Ginsburg the other half. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-supreme-court-so-good-at-preventing-leaks/617192/43 "2012-04-01T16:31:05Z")
And Thomas never says a word… to anyone. But he mutters under his breath. Well, that’s how I imagine him. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-supreme-court-so-good-at-preventing-leaks/617192/44 "2012-04-01T16:39:05Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > And Thomas never says a word… to anyone. But he mutters under his breath. Well, that’s how I imagine him. 😛 I think so too. 🙂 Thomas is an island unto himself. Hell, I can write his opinion in this case, whether it is a concurring or dissenting one. It will be about two paragraphs and state he would strike down the entire law and how the Court needs to reexamine its entire commerce clause jurisprudence. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-supreme-court-so-good-at-preventing-leaks/617192/45 "2012-04-01T16:40:06Z")
They have top-notch plumbers. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-supreme-court-so-good-at-preventing-leaks/617192/46 "2012-04-01T18:25:51Z")
> [@CC](#): > > What if the people on the court and the clerks were simply ethical and did the right thing for those reasons? Is there no way this is possible? > [@AHarris](#): > > What greater good would be served by leaking a supreme court decision early? It doesn’t take effect until they formally release it and they can change their decision at any time. Or are you implying that they write it up and then sit on it for a few months? I think CC meant that the clerks don’t leak info simply because that’s ethical, and the huge salaries they’ll get later shouldn’t play into it. He didn’t mean that it’s ethical to leak info. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-supreme-court-so-good-at-preventing-leaks/617192.md?page=2)