In Court Clerks' Breach, a Provocative Precedent (washingtonpost.com): "The Vanity Fair sources do not deny the importance of in-chambers confidentiality, a lifetime obligation spelled out in the written code of conduct that all law clerks pledge to uphold when they come to the court. They simply felt bound by a higher duty.

'We feel that something illegitimate was done with the Court's power [in Bush v Gore], and such an extraordinary situation justifies breaking an obligation we'd otherwise honor,' one clerk told the magazine. 'Our secrecy was helping to shield some of those actions.'"