Opinion | The Supreme Court Reclaims Its Legitimacy

The most anxiously awaited Supreme Court decision in decades is also the least surprising. An act of institutional sabotage leaked Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization nearly eight weeks in advance. On Friday a five-justice majority definitively overruled Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), affirming states’ authority to regulate abortion. In so doing, the court reclaimed its legitimate constitutional role and signaled a willingness to re-examine precedents that strayed across the line between law and policy or misconstrued important constitutional provisions.

But the draft opinion’s leak damaged the court, which requires the justices to collaborate in confidence. The leaker’s purpose seems obvious: a last-ditch effort to mobilize public opinion and activist protesters in hope of intimidating the justices into rethinking their position.