Justice Samuel Alito declines to say if the justices could still have a friendly dinner with each other after his bombshell draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked

• Justice Samuel Alito dodged a question about his relationship with the other SCOTUS justices.
• Alito was asked if he and the other judges could still have a meal together.
• Alito said everyone was “taking new cases” during this “frenetic time.”

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito skirted a question about the state of the SCOTUS during a public appearance this week, dodging a question about the current state of the relationship between the judges. 

Alito was speaking to an audience at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University when he was asked if he and the other justices were still able to have a meal together, per The Washington Post. 

“I think it would just be really helpful for all of us to hear, personally, are you all doing OK in these very challenging times?” the person asked, per The Post. 

Alito replied that he told himself he “wasn’t going to talk about” this subject at the session, “given all the circumstances.” 

“The court right now, we had our conference this morning, we’re doing our work,” Alito said, per The Post. “We’re taking new cases, we’re headed toward the end of the term, which is always a frenetic time as we get our opinions out.”

“So that’s where we are,” he said. 

The SCOTUS justices met in private on Thursday for the first time after the bombshell leak on May 2 of the majority draft opinion that would overrule the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. In the draft opinion, Alito wrote that “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” and his opinion that it is “time to heed the Constitution” and “return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.” 

Insider reported on Wednesday that Chief Justice John Roberts likely opposes completely overturning Roe v. Wade, and is attempting to get conservative justices to move towards a more moderate version of the ruling. 

Politico, however, reported that despite the backlash and protests over the draft opinion, the conservative justices on the bench remain unmoved on the matter.