Gail Curley, chosen to investigate who leaked the draft of the ruling on abortion in the US Supreme Court

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The mission of investigating the largest leak in the history of the US Supreme Court falls on Colonel Gail A. Curley, the bailiff of the highest court and who until recently was only known by the public for

with the famous chant " Oyez, Oyez, Oyez!" The court bailiff is traditionally responsible for announcing with these words

of the Supreme Court, at which time all those present stand up in a gesture of respect .

Curley acts as the highest security authority in the Supreme Court and

that is responsible for protecting the courthouse and providing security for the nine judges that make up that judicial body.

Now, however, Curley's mission will go much further: he must find out who leaked to the

newspaper a draft of a sentence that points to the elimination of the right to abortion at the federal level, in force since 1973, which would allow the states to legislate about that matter.

The draft, whose authenticity has been confirmed by the Supreme Court, is not the final ruling and is one of the copies that the judges circulate when they are deliberating.

In any case, the leak has caused a stir within the Supreme Court and its president, John Roberts, has called it

Roberts, appointed by Republican George W. Bush (2001-2009), has been the one who has asked Curley to hunt down the person responsible for the leak.

The threat is within

The assignment came to Curley on Tuesday, May 3, exactly one year after she was appointed bailiff of the Supreme Court, a position she formally assumed a month later.

of the Supreme Court since that position was created in 1867. The first to do so was Pamela Talkin, whom Curley replaced and who retired in 2020 after having custodied the Supreme Court for nearly two decades.

Among other things, Talkin had to deal with the fear that followed the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. For example, when some US senators received anthrax letters, the bailiff ordered the evacuation of the Supreme Court building, which is in front of Congress.

At that time, the judges had to hold their hearings in a federal court, instead of in the solemn building of the Supreme Court.

The challenge Curley now faces is very different, as the threat comes not from outside but from within the court itself.

As Roberts himself has acknowledged, what is at stake is the credibility of the US Supreme Court, which in recent years has begun to be perceived by Americans as a

rather than an independent

body charged with interpret the Constitution.

The highest court is made up of

, leaning more to the right than at any time since the 1930s. At the moment, it is unknown who could have been responsible for the leak of the draft sentence, something that in itself is not a crime because it is not a classified or sensitive document for US national security.

If the leak occurred after a computer was hacked, then it would be a crime;

but, that's something that's just up to Curley to find out.

She was a lawyer for years

As the Supreme Court details on its website, Curley has plenty of experience to undertake the investigation: she practiced for years as a military lawyer on very sensitive issues related to US national security and has worked in several countries, such as Afghanistan and Germany.

In fact, Curley held positions of great responsibility within the judicial system that exists within the US Armed Forces and that is different from the one used to judge civilians.

Specifically, she was the head of the National Security division within the body of lawyers that is in charge of defending soldiers when they make a mistake in combat and that, in addition, advises senior military officials on the legality of certain practices.

Curley was stationed between 2016 and 2019 at the US military base in Wiesbaden (Germany) and she was in charge of about 300 people, according to the Supreme Court.

In addition,

, where in 1991 he graduated with studies in political science.

He also obtained two master's degrees: one in Law from the Army Law Corps and the other in National Security from the Eisenhower School, which is responsible for training senior military officers for positions of greater responsibility within the US Armed Forces.

Some media have asked Curley to comment on her new work, but she has preferred to remain silent.

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