Politico: SCOTUS Striking Down Roe v. Wade According to Leak

 

Do we trust Politico? Can we trust a leak from the most leak-free branch of the government? Here’s their breaking story:

The Supreme Court has voted to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, according to an initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito circulated inside the court and obtained by POLITICO.

The draft opinion is a full-throated, unflinching repudiation of the 1973 decision which guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights and a subsequent 1992 decision – Planned Parenthood v. Casey – that largely maintained the right. “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” Alito writes.

“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” he writes in the document, labeled as the “Opinion of the Court.” “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

This is all very, very odd. The Supreme Court is famed for not leaking decisions before they are officially announced. In the past, there hasn’t been even a hint of which way a pending case may break. If the leak is accurate, it violates a sacrosanct tradition which will damage the court’s reputation and congenial relations between the justices and their staff.

The 98-page draft allegedly came “from a person familiar with the court’s proceedings in the Mississippi case along with other details supporting the authenticity of the document.”

One Alito quote reads: “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.” The leaker claims Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett agree with Alito.

If the leak is genuine and Roe v. Wade will be overturned, I think this helps the conservative side, at least slightly. It lets some hot air out of the balloon before the official announcement, lessening any possible midterm blowback. Far, far more importantly, it will save babies’ lives.

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  1. EHerring Coolidge
    EHerring
    @EHerring

    Django (View Comment):

    Insurrection

    • #121
  2. EHerring Coolidge
    EHerring
    @EHerring

    Goldwaterwoman (View Comment):

    Leslie Watkins (View Comment):

    Goldwaterwoman (View Comment):

    I am a pro-choice woman of four wanted children who has long hoped Roe v Wade would be overturned as it is most definitely a decision that belongs to the states. Since I live in blue Washington, I fully expect abortion will be legalized here by our legislature, and that’s the way it should be. If a state doesn’t want abortion and a law to that effect is passed by their legislature, that’s okay too. In 1791 the 10th amendment clearly stated those rights not specifically spelled out in the US Constitution belonged to the individual states. The Supremes need to take this seriously in future decisions.

    Theoretically you’re correct, of course, but what about the crazies?!? I kid (a bit), but most women I know are not versed in civics and will see this as a Republican coup d’etat, not a return to federalism. And, well, I’m dreading it.

    We also must deal with the press which will side with the crazies. Civil unrest ahead.

    Anyone see any khaki males in the crowd.?

    • #122
  3. EHerring Coolidge
    EHerring
    @EHerring

    navyjag (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Joseph Stanko (View Comment):

    Metalheaddoc (View Comment):

    This has to be fake. SCOTUS doesn’t leak. If so, the responsible staffer should be fired and permanently disbarred if they are a lawyer.

    If genuine, this could be the end of a staffer’s promising young career.

    But it’s also the sort of emotionally-charged issue that I could imagine an idealistic young progressive might think worth sacrificing her career for.

    Career-ending? Have you met the Left?

    If the law clerk is disbarred, as she should be, will get job at MSCBC paying her 3 time a firm in NY would pay her. And the then be the designated “Supreme Court” expert.

    I don’t think the Supreme Court could disbar the leaker, would just fire her. 

    • #123
  4. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    EHerring (View Comment):

    navyjag (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Joseph Stanko (View Comment):

    Metalheaddoc (View Comment):

    This has to be fake. SCOTUS doesn’t leak. If so, the responsible staffer should be fired and permanently disbarred if they are a lawyer.

    If genuine, this could be the end of a staffer’s promising young career.

    But it’s also the sort of emotionally-charged issue that I could imagine an idealistic young progressive might think worth sacrificing her career for.

    Career-ending? Have you met the Left?

    If the law clerk is disbarred, as she should be, will get job at MSCBC paying her 3 time a firm in NY would pay her. And the then be the designated “Supreme Court” expert.

    I don’t think the Supreme Court could disbar the leaker, would just fire her.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if the leaker is a him.  At least genetically.  That might be seen as even more heroic.

    • #124
  5. EHerring Coolidge
    EHerring
    @EHerring

    Steve Fast (View Comment):

    My take (based on news reports and blogging since I have no first-hand knowledge of Supreme Court matters):

    1) It’s a legit first draft from February. It’s 2-3 months old, so there could have been quite a few changes, both from Alito himself and also incorporating comments from other justices.

    2) This draft implies that the original vote in the conference was 5-4 to overturn. If Roberts had been in the majority, he would have written a narrow opinion to uphold Dobbs but not overturn Roe/Casey because he was the only one to hold that view in oral arguments, but this one is broad, so Roberts did not agree with the 5-justice majority. Thus, Thomas assigned Alito to write the majority opinion. It intrigues me that Thomas did not write the opinion himself given that he is such a strong pro-life voice.

    3) Robert is unlikely to be the leaker because he is a strong institutionalist and would not do something that would harm the court or break precedent. His call for the FBI to investigate also makes it unlikely that he is the leaker.

    4) There is sure to have been and continue to be internal negotiating, so it’s not certain that the final vote will be to overturn Roe (or possibly even to uphold Dobbs). But it makes it very likely that Roe/Casey will be overturned because the majority coalition aligns with the questioning in oral arguments.

    5) The leaker was probably a liberal clerk on the staff of one of the liberal dissenters who wanted to crank up the pressure on Kavanaugh and Barrett. They will find the leaker who will be fired and disbarred, but he will become a leftist hero.

    6) Will Roberts write a concurring opinion that upholds Dobbs but does not agree with the sections that overturn Roe/Casey?

    A blue state will not disbar the leaker.

    • #125
  6. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    I think those who say this was leaked by a lefty so that Dems get busy federalizing abortion law (by first abolishing the filibuster) and adding seats to the court before the midterms are correct. That would have been my guess.

    There was no way the abortion absolutists were going to allow the Court to put a dent in our extreme (by European standards, no less!) abortion regime. And that’s all overturning Roe/Casey would do — put a dent in it.

    • #126
  7. 9thDistrictNeighbor Member
    9thDistrictNeighbor
    @9thDistrictNeighbor

    EHerring (View Comment):

    navyjag (View Comment):

    Django (View Comment):

    Let’s hope. With a request they disbar the law clerk who leaked it and impeach the Justice who suggested it. Sorry, great Latina!

    My money is on the new justice or her clerks. Was she confined? I have paid little attention to the hellfire that is the Biden Administration and the Dem Congress.

    She may have been “confirmed” by the senate, but she isn’t on the court and won’t be until Breyer leaves.  Or maybe I should say “she,” since she admitted she is not a biologist and therefore cannot express an opinion about sex or gender.

    I have wondered about this “tenth” justice thing.  If people think she is already seated it’s not such a stretch to start “confirming” other justices.  There could be a shadow Supreme Court to blow whatever way the liberal winds will shift.  Yea, that’s the ticket.

    • #127
  8. Justin Other Lawyer Coolidge
    Justin Other Lawyer
    @DouglasMyers

    EJHill (View Comment):

    navyjag: Other than Thomas, of all of the justices I would trust to get it right Alito would be no. 2. If Thomas wrote this you know what the reaction would be.

    Obviously Thomas agrees with you. If the CJ is in the majority he assigns the opinion. If the CJ is in the minority, the opinion is assigned by the most senior Justice in the majority and that would be Mr. Justice Thomas.

    If the draft opinion is legitimate (and I’m still not ready to accept that it is), then here’s my speculation–the vote to uphold the Alabama law was likely 6-3, to include Roberts.  But, as for the reasoning to uphold the law, it became clear that there were 5 votes to obliterate Roe, with Roberts reasoning on other, more narrow, grounds.  Thus, Roberts no longer was in the majority, and, if the story holds true, there will be a 5 vote majority, with 3 dissenters, and Roberts concurring in judgment.  FWIW.

    • #128
  9. Amy Schley, Longcat Shrinker Coolidge
    Amy Schley, Longcat Shrinker
    @AmySchley

    Skyler (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Joseph Stanko (View Comment):

    Metalheaddoc (View Comment):

    This has to be fake. SCOTUS doesn’t leak. If so, the responsible staffer should be fired and permanently disbarred if they are a lawyer.

    If genuine, this could be the end of a staffer’s promising young career.

    But it’s also the sort of emotionally-charged issue that I could imagine an idealistic young progressive might think worth sacrificing her career for.

    Career-ending? Have you met the Left?

    And why would anyone suppose it was a clerk and not a justice? I’m still skeptical, but time will tell.

    Because clerks don’t stay at the court permanently. The justices are far more likely to recognize that dropping this kind of … Baby Ruth in the punch bowl will have serious and long-term consequences that will hurt the liberals as much as the conservatives. There’s quite a lot of backroom negotiating and horse-trading that goes on, and that requires trust. That trust is gone now. 

    A twenty-something ideologue who’s spent their entire life dedicated to getting the biggest brass ring in the legal profession is far more likely to say damn the consequences. 

    • #129
  10. MWD B612 "Dawg" Member
    MWD B612 "Dawg"
    @danok1

    EHerring (View Comment):

    navyjag (View Comment):

    Django (View Comment):

    Let’s hope. With a request they disbar the law clerk who leaked it and impeach the Justice who suggested it. Sorry, great Latina!

    My money is on the new justice or her clerks. Was she confined? I have paid little attention to the hellfire that is the Biden Administration and the Dem Congress.

    She’s not been seated yet and won’t be until next term. I doubt she’s involved in anything in this term, and doesn’t have any clerks yet, since she’s not yet an Associate Justice.

    • #130
  11. Eustace C. Scrubb Member
    Eustace C. Scrubb
    @EustaceCScrubb

    If a young clerk leaked this, his/her/ they’s legal career may be over… But the gravy train in lefty politics and media will never end.

    • #131
  12. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    Metalheaddoc (View Comment):

    I still think the story is bogus.

    Any bets on Roberts siding with the libs?

    100% he will

    He is not a Conservative. He is a creature of the Swamp

    • #132
  13. DaveSchmidt Coolidge
    DaveSchmidt
    @DaveSchmidt

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    EHerring (View Comment):

    Joseph Stanko (View Comment):

    Metalheaddoc (View Comment):

    This has to be fake. SCOTUS doesn’t leak. If so, the responsible staffer should be fired and permanently disbarred if they are a lawyer.

    If genuine, this could be the end of a staffer’s promising young career.

    But it’s also the sort of emotionally-charged issue that I could imagine an idealistic young progressive might think worth sacrificing her career for.

    Bingo! Would have a rewarding career elsewhere for being the staffer who leaked and turned on the mob which caused Roberts to cave.

    I you were a good progressive lawyer clerking for SCOTUS and starting to think that maybe not doing law but wanting a kick in the good old career path this would do it. I can see a Democrat running on this. “I was the clerk that blew the whistle on the traitorous backstabbing illegitimate SCOTUS.” I can see working on that campaign.

    All you have to do is run in a deeply blue district.  

    • #133
  14. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    If the leaker is found, he or she should be held up as the horrible person that he or she is. 

    They should never get a job in law. This is a high breach of every ethic. 

    A therapist doing this sort of thing to a client would never work again in the field. 

    This person should not only be disbarred, but I would hope this haunts him or her for the rest of his or her life. Never be given a job that requires any honesty of any sort. A lifetime ban without the opportunity of redemption as a sign to the next person even thinking of it. 

    I keep being told “Character matters”. Fine. It should here.  

    • #134
  15. No Caesar Thatcher
    No Caesar
    @NoCaesar

    Django (View Comment):

    Metalheaddoc (View Comment):

    I still think the story is bogus.

    Any bets on Roberts siding with the libs?

    That is my bet. Also, that he is responsible for the leak.

    I doubt very much that is true.  He has demonstrated that he reveres the Court too much to harm it in this way.  He’s bent over backward — too much in my opinion – to keep collegiality.  

    I agree with those who say this leak will dramatically harm the Court going forward.    When they are found out, and they will be, they must be severely punished, no matter who they are.  

    • #135
  16. No Caesar Thatcher
    No Caesar
    @NoCaesar

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Joseph Stanko (View Comment):

    Metalheaddoc (View Comment):

    This has to be fake. SCOTUS doesn’t leak. If so, the responsible staffer should be fired and permanently disbarred if they are a lawyer.

    If genuine, this could be the end of a staffer’s promising young career.

    But it’s also the sort of emotionally-charged issue that I could imagine an idealistic young progressive might think worth sacrificing her career for.

    Career-ending? Have you met the Left?

    Good point

    • #136
  17. GlennAmurgis Coolidge
    GlennAmurgis
    @GlennAmurgis

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):

    If the leaker is found, he or she should be held up as the horrible person that he or she is.

    They should never get a job in law. This is a high breach of every ethic.

    A therapist doing this sort of thing to a client would never work again in the field.

    This person should not only be disbarred, but I would hope this haunts him or her for the rest of his or her life. Never be given a job that requires any honesty of any sort. A lifetime ban without the opportunity of redemption as a sign to the next person even thinking of it.

    I keep being told “Character matters”. Fine. It should here.

    The leaker is part of the permanent bureaucracy – he/she will never pay a price

    • #137
  18. No Caesar Thatcher
    No Caesar
    @NoCaesar

    Django (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    The fury at MSNBC in the 11th Hours was overwhelming. There was not a single commentator who suggested that this might be a good and proper decision.

    The leaker is already being called a hero in many quarters.

    Yeah.  Their fortune is made.  The only question is whether they have any legal jeopardy.  

    Can the lawyers amongst us answer that question?  Is there a law against what the leaker did?

    • #138
  19. No Caesar Thatcher
    No Caesar
    @NoCaesar

    Blondie (View Comment):

    EJHill (View Comment):

    John Yoo to the white courtesy phone… call for Mr. John Yoo on the white courtesy phone…

    Funny, that. I had just finished up the latest Law Talk when I read about this “leak”. I immediately wanted to hear what Mr. Yoo had to say now.

    me too.

    • #139
  20. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    No Caesar (View Comment):

    Django (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    The fury at MSNBC in the 11th Hours was overwhelming. There was not a single commentator who suggested that this might be a good and proper decision.

    The leaker is already being called a hero in many quarters.

    Yeah. Their fortune is made. The only question is whether they have any legal jeopardy.

    Can the lawyers amongst us answer that question? Is there a law against what the leaker did?

    Does it matter?  None of the IC leakers were prosecuted and those leaks were felonies.

    • #140
  21. MWD B612 "Dawg" Member
    MWD B612 "Dawg"
    @danok1

    For those questioning whether the leaked draft is authentic, it is. The Chief Justice of the United States confirmed it.

    https://apnews.com/article/kathy-hochul-biden-us-supreme-court-health-f6b899076faba20517b9ac1e82438c16?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Twitter

     

    • #141
  22. 9thDistrictNeighbor Member
    9thDistrictNeighbor
    @9thDistrictNeighbor

    MWD B612 "Dawg" (View Comment):

    For those questioning whether the leaked draft is authentic, it is. The Chief Justice of the United States confirmed it.

    https://apnews.com/article/kathy-hochul-biden-us-supreme-court-health-f6b899076faba20517b9ac1e82438c16?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Twitter

     

    • #142
  23. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    MWD B612 "Dawg" (View Comment):

    For those questioning whether the leaked draft is authentic, it is. The Chief Justice of the United States confirmed it.

    https://apnews.com/article/kathy-hochul-biden-us-supreme-court-health-f6b899076faba20517b9ac1e82438c16?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Twitter

     

    “huge ramifications for this year’s elections”

    That is what this is all about.  They can now rig the election and blame it on this ruling.  

    • #143
  24. DrewInWisconsin, Oik! Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oik!
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Roberts leaked it so that the controversy was about the leak rather than about the decision.

     

    • #144
  25. Ekosj Member
    Ekosj
    @Ekosj

    Do you suppose that Taylor Lorenz is tirelessly digging to find the leaker and publish their identity?

    • #145
  26. Metalheaddoc Member
    Metalheaddoc
    @Metalheaddoc

    So who is going to investigate the leak? The FBI is corrupt and not to be trusted. Is this a Federal Marshal kind of thing? 

    • #146
  27. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    Justin Other Lawyer (View Comment):

    EJHill (View Comment):

    navyjag: Other than Thomas, of all of the justices I would trust to get it right Alito would be no. 2. If Thomas wrote this you know what the reaction would be.

    Obviously Thomas agrees with you. If the CJ is in the majority he assigns the opinion. If the CJ is in the minority, the opinion is assigned by the most senior Justice in the majority and that would be Mr. Justice Thomas.

    If the draft opinion is legitimate (and I’m still not ready to accept that it is), then here’s my speculation–the vote to uphold the Alabama law was likely 6-3, to include Roberts. But, as for the reasoning to uphold the law, it became clear that there were 5 votes to obliterate Roe, with Roberts reasoning on other, more narrow, grounds. Thus, Roberts no longer was in the majority, and, if the story holds true, there will be a 5 vote majority, with 3 dissenters, and Roberts concurring in judgment. FWIW.

    I just heard Dan Bongino say that Justice Roberts has confirmed the document is legitimate.

    • #147
  28. DrewInWisconsin, Oik! Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oik!
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Metalheaddoc (View Comment):

    So who is going to investigate the leak? The FBI is corrupt and not to be trusted. Is this a Federal Marshal kind of thing?

    There will be no investigation.

    • #148
  29. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/05/breaking-supreme-court-chief-justice-releases-statement-unprecedented-scotus-leak-confirms-authenticity-calls-investigation/

    • #149
  30. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    DrewInWisconsin, Oik! (View Comment):

    Roberts leaked it so that the controversy was about the leak rather than about the decision.

     

    Does this need a sarcasm tag?

    • #150
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