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. DaveSchmidt Coolidge
    DaveSchmidt
    @DaveSchmidt

    EHerring (View Comment):

    l- whoever leaked it is a lefty- ends justify means ideology
    2- leaker already has a lucrative insurance policy in place in case he is exposed

    3- wouldn’t it be funny if Alito sent a slightly different draft to each justice so if the document is leaked, it could be traced

    4- what if the purpose of the leak was to energize their militant arm to protest at justices’ houses and threaten the safety of the justices’ family members? Only one justice would he needed to cave if it is 5-4.

    #3 would be awesome 

    • #181
  2. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    Joseph Stanko (View Comment):

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    A President could do this with an executive order. Congress won’t take its power back. The members literally go to the Administration and beg them to write regulations so they don’t have to take votes.

    I don’t think that’s true – The Executive Branch can’t force the Congress to do anything.

    That’s brilliant. He wouldn’t be forcing Congress to do anything, he’d be directing the Executive Branch not to take further action without express authorization from Congress.

    Yes, that’s the way it should be handled – the President (as head of the Executive Branch) refuses to do anything that does not have explicit Congressional authorization and direction. 

    Unfortunately, the siren song of dictatorial power is almost always too powerful to resist. 

    I understand the reluctance of individual legislators to take a stand by voting, but it does seem weird for leaders of the legislative branch to actively encourage the executive branch to take power away from the legislative branch. Of course maybe the fact that legislators don’t want to vote on something for fear of alienating voters is a signal that maybe the subject is something the government (via the legislature), and particularly the federal Congress, should not be trying to regulate or control. Leave it to the people. What a concept!

    • #182
  3. Joseph Stanko Coolidge
    Joseph Stanko
    @JosephStanko

    Skyler (View Comment):

    Dems will immediately stack the court and then over turn it. Then republicans will restack. Eventually the court will have 150 justices. That seems about right to me. It will take all the patina of prestige away, which is appropriate since the latest justice has no patina at all.

    I know, we could have 2 justices per state, and let each state legislature confirm them.  Then they could meet in Washington, deliberate, and vote on legislation.  We’ll call it “Senate 2.0.”

    • #183
  4. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):

    Bishop Wash (View Comment):

    She (View Comment):
    I would have expected nothing less. The judiciary–a supposedly co-equal branch of government (please correct this foreigner if She is wrong about that)–is about to discover what it’s like to be subjected to, and torn apart by, the whims of political hacks up to and including the one occupying the Oval Office, and by their mind-numbed robots among the media, the glitterati, and the Twitterati.

    I learned from a Constitution podcast that the thought the branches are co-equal is incorrect. Congress has more power. For example, they have the ability to fire the other two branches, through impeachment. Neither of the other two branches can remove a member of Congress. The hosts claimed that the thought the branches are co-equal was started by the Nixon administration.

    Congress just won’t use its power and gives it all away.

    Going a bit far afield here, but I’ve said several times on various threads here on Ricochet, the fundamental problem that the American government is suffering from for the last 20-plus years is that we have a Legislative branch that refuses to Legislate. We haven’t had a budget since the Clinton Administration, and what legislation they do pass tends to be stuff along the lines of “The Secretary of <department> shall issue regulation to <whatever>.”

    Fix that problem, and you resolve a lot of issues of governance.

    My personal preference would be a Constitutional Amendment such that no executive branch regulation can take effect without a positive affirmative vote of the Congress. Make Congresscritters accountable for what the government is doing.

     

     

    A President could do this with an executive order. Congress won’t take its power back. The members literally go to the Administration and beg them to write regulations so they don’t have to take votes.

    I don’t think that’s true – The Executive Branch can’t force the Congress to do anything.

    Yes he can. Here it is:

     

    All Regulations of the Executive Branch not explicitly written into statute by Congress are hereby rescinded.  

    Done

    • #184
  5. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    There is one thing that John Roberts could do to have this backfire on the leaker.  Roberts would make it a 6-3 majority.  

    • #185
  6. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):

    Bishop Wash (View Comment):

    She (View Comment):
    I would have expected nothing less. The judiciary–a supposedly co-equal branch of government (please correct this foreigner if She is wrong about that)–is about to discover what it’s like to be subjected to, and torn apart by, the whims of political hacks up to and including the one occupying the Oval Office, and by their mind-numbed robots among the media, the glitterati, and the Twitterati.

    I learned from a Constitution podcast that the thought the branches are co-equal is incorrect. Congress has more power. For example, they have the ability to fire the other two branches, through impeachment. Neither of the other two branches can remove a member of Congress. The hosts claimed that the thought the branches are co-equal was started by the Nixon administration.

    Congress just won’t use its power and gives it all away.

    Going a bit far afield here, but I’ve said several times on various threads here on Ricochet, the fundamental problem that the American government is suffering from for the last 20-plus years is that we have a Legislative branch that refuses to Legislate. We haven’t had a budget since the Clinton Administration, and what legislation they do pass tends to be stuff along the lines of “The Secretary of <department> shall issue regulation to <whatever>.”

    Fix that problem, and you resolve a lot of issues of governance.

    My personal preference would be a Constitutional Amendment such that no executive branch regulation can take effect without a positive affirmative vote of the Congress. Make Congresscritters accountable for what the government is doing.

     

     

    A President could do this with an executive order. Congress won’t take its power back. The members literally go to the Administration and beg them to write regulations so they don’t have to take votes.

    I don’t think that’s true – The Executive Branch can’t force the Congress to do anything.

    Yes he can. Here it is:

     

    All Regulations of the Executive Branch not explicitly written into statute by Congress are hereby rescinded.

    Done

    You’ve never heard of the Administrative Procedures Act, have you?

    • #186
  7. DonG (CAGW is a Hoax) Coolidge
    DonG (CAGW is a Hoax)
    @DonG

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):
    I assume the leaker will be identified. I suppose the leaking clerk could have convinced himself or herself that he or she had so thoroughly covered the trail that identification is impossible, but that is a risky assumption.

    Do you remember that time the Senate security guy (James Wolfe) leaked the Carter Page FISA document to his reporter girlfriend?   Two-month sentence

    • #187
  8. DonG (CAGW is a Hoax) Coolidge
    DonG (CAGW is a Hoax)
    @DonG

    Postmodern Hoplite (View Comment):
    Once Roberts released his statement, and has NOT released to final decision, it looks to me that the pro-abortion advocates were correct in their estimate of the situation. If the decision were already finalized, it could have been released this morning, premature perhaps, but still viable. The fact that it wasn’t suggests the final decision hasn’t been made.

    Nice use of “viability” standard. 

    • #188
  9. EHerring Coolidge
    EHerring
    @EHerring

    Chuck Schumer is a pile of excrement. His comments are as vile as any the Marxist Democrats have uttered. 

    • #189
  10. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    EHerring (View Comment):

    Chuck Schumer is a pile of excrement. His comments are as vile as any the Marxist Democrats have uttered.

    I don’t even know, but I believe you.

    • #190
  11. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    Which Democrat is scandalized by the leak? Has anyone heard of one?

    • #191
  12. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    Which Democrat is scandalized by the leak? Has anyone heard of one?

    That is truly sad.  It is terrible when Republicans buy into the Trump Big Lie.  It is also terrible when not a single Democrat has denounced this leak.   A plague on both their houses.

    Not even Joe Manchin stood up.  From Politico at https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/03/congress-supreme-court-abortion-reactions-00029682

    “Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)

    “‘The filibuster is the only protection we have in democracy,’ Manchin said. ‘I’m not going to comment on a leak from the Supreme Court.'”

    • #192
  13. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    EHerring (View Comment):

    Chuck Schumer is a pile of excrement. His comments are as vile as any the Marxist Democrats have uttered.

    You know, you don’t need to sugar-coat it. 

    BTW, I agree. 

    • #193
  14. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):
    It is terrible when Republicans buy into the Trump Big Lie.

    Which lie was that again?

    Seriously, I don’t know what you think the lie was.

    “The election was rigged.”
    “The election was stolen.”
    “Illegally cast or counted votes exceeded the Biden margin of victory in swing states.”
    “The voting machines were insecure.”
    “The voting machines were hacked.”
    “Fraudulent votes flipped swing states.”

    Some of those things are demonstrable truths.  Some have been demonstrated.

    What was the Big Lie, Gary?

    • #194
  15. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):
    It is terrible when Republicans buy into the Trump Big Lie.

    Which lie was that again?

    Seriously, I don’t know what you think the lie was.

    “The election was rigged.”
    “The election was stolen.”
    “Illegally cast or counted votes exceeded the Biden margin of victory in swing states.”
    “The voting machines were insecure.”
    “The voting machines were hacked.”
    “Fraudulent votes flipped swing states.”

    Some of those things are demonstrable truths. I have demonstrated some–by logic class standards. Some have been demonstrated in court.

    What was the Big Lie, Gary?

    guys, guys, guys….

    This isn’t about Trump or the election.

    Please stop.

     

    • #195
  16. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):
    It is terrible when Republicans buy into the Trump Big Lie.

    Which lie was that again?

    Seriously, I don’t know what you think the lie was.

    “The election was rigged.”
    “The election was stolen.”
    “Illegally cast or counted votes exceeded the Biden margin of victory in swing states.”
    “The voting machines were insecure.”
    “The voting machines were hacked.”
    “Fraudulent votes flipped swing states.”

    Some of those things are demonstrable truths. I have demonstrated some–by logic class standards. Some have been demonstrated in court.

    What was the Big Lie, Gary?

    Have you seen, or are you going to watch, 2000 Mules

    BTW, I suspect that Gary hasn’t and won’t. 

    • #196
  17. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):
    It is terrible when Republicans buy into the Trump Big Lie.

    Which lie was that again?

    Seriously, I don’t know what you think the lie was.

    “The election was rigged.”
    “The election was stolen.”
    “Illegally cast or counted votes exceeded the Biden margin of victory in swing states.”
    “The voting machines were insecure.”
    “The voting machines were hacked.”
    “Fraudulent votes flipped swing states.”

    Some of those things are demonstrable truths. I have demonstrated some–by logic class standards. Some have been demonstrated in court.

    What was the Big Lie, Gary?

    guys, guys, guys….

    This isn’t about Trump or the election.

    Please stop.

    Sorry. Every now and then I lose self-control. Head-exploding brought on by Gary’s TDS.

    • #197
  18. EHerring Coolidge
    EHerring
    @EHerring

    Django (View Comment):

    EHerring (View Comment):

    Chuck Schumer is a pile of excrement. His comments are as vile as any the Marxist Democrats have uttered.

    You know, you don’t need to sugar-coat it.

    BTW, I agree.

    I held back. Didn’t want to destroy my reputation as a lady by calling him a

    • #198
  19. DrewInWisconsin, Oik! Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oik!
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):
    That is truly sad.  It is terrible when Republicans buy into the Trump Big Lie.  It is also terrible when not a single Democrat has denounced this leak.   A plague on both their houses.

    I agree! Down with Republicans! Especially those of the Kinzinger/Romney/Cheney faction!

    • #199
  20. DaveSchmidt Coolidge
    DaveSchmidt
    @DaveSchmidt

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    There is one thing that John Roberts could do to have this backfire on the leaker. Roberts would make it a 6-3 majority.

    And not write anything. 

    • #200
  21. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    I don’t know what kind of administrative authority Roberts has as Chief, but if able he should fire all 36 clerks.  Is it fair?  Of course not, it would be grossly unfair.  But it would sure send a message.

    • #201
  22. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Judge Mental (View Comment):

    I don’t know what kind of administrative authority Roberts has as Chief, but if able he should fire all 36 clerks. Is it fair? Of course not, it would be grossly unfair. But it would sure send a message.

    I dunno, the one who actually did it would still get hired by MSNBC or something, while all the others would just be out of a job, and worse.

    Unless they were given immunity for anything that might accidentally happen to the perp.

    • #202
  23. Matt Bartle Member
    Matt Bartle
    @MattBartle

    You know, I’m no longer in favor of the current thing.

    I’m outraged by the current thing.

     

    • #203
  24. DonG (CAGW is a Hoax) Coolidge
    DonG (CAGW is a Hoax)
    @DonG

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):
    I understand the reluctance of individual legislators to take a stand by voting, but it does seem weird for leaders of the legislative branch to actively encourage the executive branch to take power away from the legislative branch. Of course maybe the fact that legislators don’t want to vote on something for fear of alienating voters is a signal that maybe the subject is something the government (via the legislature), and particularly the federal Congress, should not be trying to regulate or control.

    Don’t think of it as giving away power, think of it as giving away responsibility.  

    • #204
  25. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    DonG (CAGW is a Hoax) (View Comment):

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):
    I understand the reluctance of individual legislators to take a stand by voting, but it does seem weird for leaders of the legislative branch to actively encourage the executive branch to take power away from the legislative branch. Of course maybe the fact that legislators don’t want to vote on something for fear of alienating voters is a signal that maybe the subject is something the government (via the legislature), and particularly the federal Congress, should not be trying to regulate or control.

    Don’t think of it as giving away power, think of it as giving away responsibility.

    Exactly.  Voting for or against actual stuff is hard.  You might lose re-election, and then what are you g0oign to do for an income?

    Much easier to vote for the “good stuff for people”  bill and then blame problems on the bureaucrats.

    • #205
  26. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    DonG (CAGW is a Hoax) (View Comment):

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):
    I understand the reluctance of individual legislators to take a stand by voting, but it does seem weird for leaders of the legislative branch to actively encourage the executive branch to take power away from the legislative branch. Of course maybe the fact that legislators don’t want to vote on something for fear of alienating voters is a signal that maybe the subject is something the government (via the legislature), and particularly the federal Congress, should not be trying to regulate or control.

    Don’t think of it as giving away power, think of it as giving away responsibility.

    It gives them more time to focus on being reelected.

    • #206
  27. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    Joseph Stanko (View Comment):

    Skyler (View Comment):
    I find it hard to believe. That type of full-throated opinion to over throw such a controversial precedent is unprecedented.

    Unprecedented? Granted I’ve never actually read Brown v. Board of Education, but I’d venture it amounted to a full-throated repudiation of Plessy v. Ferguson.

    I guess it’s an opinion, but Brown was decided in favor of individualism, which isn’t so revolutionary.  This decision, if it becomes a decision, rehabilitates the 9th and 10th Amendments.  In law school you learn that those two amendments don’t count for much at all.  In fact, the the Multi-state version of the bar exam, the test prep people tell you that any answer on the multiple choice section that calls up the 9th or 10th amendments will be a wrong answer because those were considered dead law.

    • #207
  28. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    Judge Mental (View Comment):

    I don’t know what kind of administrative authority Roberts has as Chief, but if able he should fire all 36 clerks. Is it fair? Of course not, it would be grossly unfair. But it would sure send a message.

    The chief justice has no real power that any other justice doesn’t have.  As a courtesy he has a few administrative perks and that’s about it.

    • #208
  29. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    Abortion is the Holy Sacrament of the Left.  On my way home from the doctor this afternoon, I drove by an impromptu demonstration in favor of Roe, with all the usual signage.  “We’ll never go back”.  “No back-alley abortions” with the coat hanger drawing, and all that other crap.  Our state Dictator attended a pro-abortion rally this afternoon.  Washington already has one of the most lenient abortion laws in the nation, and I expect our heavily-DemocRat legislature to make it even more lenient at their next legislative session.

    Last week, we got the news that Planned Parenthood plans a new clinic right on the Washington-Idaho border, to provide services to all those Idaho women who can’t get abortions in their own state.  Probably with our taxpayer money.

    Lastly, I would suggest that we cease immediately using the term “pro-choice”.  Use pro-abortion.  Do not use their language.

    • #209
  30. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):

    Abortion is the Holy Sacrament of the Left. On my way home from the doctor this afternoon, I drove by an impromptu demonstration in favor of Roe, with all the usual signage. “We’ll never go back”. “No back-alley abortions” with the coat hanger drawing, and all that other crap. Our state Dictator attended a pro-abortion rally this afternoon. Washington already has one of the most lenient abortion laws in the nation, and I expect our heavily-DemocRat legislature to make it even more lenient at their next legislative session.

    Last week, we got the news that Planned Parenthood plans a new clinic right on the Washington-Idaho border, to provide services to all those Idaho women who can’t get abortions in their own state. Probably with our taxpayer money.

    Lastly, I would suggest that we cease immediately using the term “pro-choice”. Use pro-abortion. Do not use their language.

    Same with “right to choose”. If you believe in abortion, why are you unwilling to say exactly what you are choosing? 

    Those aren’t the only examples. I once saw a bumper sticker saying, “If you don’t like abortion, don’t get one.” Well, idiots, if you don’t like handguns, don’t buy one! And don’t interfere with my “right to choose”. 

    • #210
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