The contents of a draft US Supreme Court opinion that would overrule the landmark Roe v. Wade decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion are momentous and dismaying. But how the newspaper Politico obtained the draft, and from whom, may matter even more.
CHICAGO – For the first time in American history, an insider at the US Supreme Court has deliberately disclosed a draft opinion in a high-profile case with the apparent intent of altering either the Court’s deliberations, or the public’s reactions to the putative decision. The contents of the draft – which would overrule the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion – are momentous and dismaying. But how the newspaper Politico obtained the draft also matters. It bodes worse for the Court, as an institution, if the leaker was a justice, rather than a young law clerk, and it would be even more worrying if the leaker was a conservative rather than a liberal.
CHICAGO – For the first time in American history, an insider at the US Supreme Court has deliberately disclosed a draft opinion in a high-profile case with the apparent intent of altering either the Court’s deliberations, or the public’s reactions to the putative decision. The contents of the draft – which would overrule the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion – are momentous and dismaying. But how the newspaper Politico obtained the draft also matters. It bodes worse for the Court, as an institution, if the leaker was a justice, rather than a young law clerk, and it would be even more worrying if the leaker was a conservative rather than a liberal.