On May 2, Politico published a draft majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court that would reverse Roe v. Wade – the landmark case that found a federal constitutional right to abortion. The resulting media frenzy proves that the leak is having a corrosive effect on American constitutional jurisprudence and gravely threatens the rule of law.
When a preliminary draft of a court opinion is exposed to public scrutiny, protections that preserve the process of writing well-grounded and faithful decisions come under attack. Protests have swamped the Supreme Court building. Protests at the homes of individual justices have been routine, apparently violating the law in the process. Political leaders have relentlessly attacked the draft opinion in speech and in print. Schemes of packing the Supreme Court and other not so subtle threats have come raining down.
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