WASHINGTON — Media and leftist activists are praising the leaker of a draft opinion showing that Supreme Court justices may be preparing to announce that Roe v. Wade is overturned.
The draft majority opinion, which is not final, says Roe v. Wade was egregiously wrong. “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote, according to Politico. “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
The unprecedented leak has sent shockwaves throughout Washington, with many commentators noting that a draft decision has never been publicly released in the modern history of the court.
But Demand Justice Executive Director Brian Fallon praised the leak, saying, “SCOTUS leaks are good. Elite lawyers on both the left and right treating the Court as precious all these years have just been giving cover to an institution that is wholly unaccountable. Rip the veil off.”
SCOTUS leaks are good. Elite lawyers on both the left and right treating the Court as precious all these years have just been giving cover to an institution that is wholly unaccountable. Rip the veil off.
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) May 3, 2022
“All Democrats need to show the same urgency as the clerk who apparently risked his or her career to sound this alarm,” he continued. “Those on the inside know best how broken the institution is. We should listen.”
Is a brave clerk taking this unpredecented step of leaking a draft opinion to warn the country what's coming in a last-ditch Hail Mary attempt to see if the public response might cause the Court to reconsider?
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) May 3, 2022
He added in a separate tweet: “Is a brave clerk taking this unpredecented [sic] step of leaking a draft opinion to warn the country what’s coming in a last-ditch Hail Mary attempt to see if the public response might cause the Court to reconsider?”
Fallon, a former top aide to Senate Majority Leader Schumer (D-NY), heads an organization that has heavily advocated for packing the court and Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the highest court in the nation.
He did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Wire.
Demand Justice’s publication “Balls & Strikes” also tweeted about the leak, saying, “Politico got is big leak, it’s our turn now baby.”
The publication’s editor in chief, Jay Willis, expressed the desire that there “should be more Supreme Court leaks, all the time.”
“Make the place a giant marble sieve,” he said. “Ideally these leaks are to me, Jay Willis, a person whose DMs are open and who is on Signal. But if you want to send stuff elsewhere, that’s cool, not a dealbreaker for me or anything.”
Politico got its big leak, it's our turn now baby https://t.co/6UMf6zSo15
— Balls & Strikes (@ballsstrikes) May 3, 2022
Experts have told The Daily Wire that Demand Justice and other organizations with ties to the dark money mothership Arabella Advisors subject both conservative Supreme Court nominees and justices to character assassinations, threats of retaliation, attacks on their legitimacy, and more.
Judicial Crisis Network and its president, Carrie Severino, have accused these groups of doing “everything in their power to corrupt the judiciary and the judicial nominations process.”
Late Monday evening, Severino stressed to The Daily Wire that the leak poses a serious threat to the institutional integrity of the Court.
“That type of leak is an outrageous betrayal of trust,” she said, adding, “The Supreme Court is the only institution in town that doesn’t leak, and to do this is a real attack on the institution of the court. Not to mention just an outrageous breach of trust to the justices to do so.”
Multiple members of the media joined Demand Justice in praising the leak, dubbing the leaker a hero, as Vox senior correspondent Ian Millhiser and Jezebel senior reporter Caitlin Cruz did.
“A leak like this has never in the modern history of SCOTUS,” said Cruz. “It is a massive deal that someone thought the public deserved to see what was going on in their chambers. A hero.”
A leak like this has never in the modern history of SCOTUS. It is a massive deal that someone thought the public deserved to see what was going on in their chambers. A hero. https://t.co/VOaFEzw4xl
— Caitlin Cruz (@caitlinrcruz) May 3, 2022
“Seriously, shout out to whoever the hero was within the Supreme Court who said, ‘fuck it! Let’s burn this place down,'” tweeted Millhiser.
Seriously, shout out to whoever the hero was within the Supreme Court who said “fuck it! Let’s burn this place down.”
— Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) May 3, 2022
NAACP Fairfax County Education Chair Sujatha Hampton retweeted Millhiser’s tweet, adding, “Sometimes whistleblowers are heroes and really courageous. Like ‘see something say something’ but with morality and justice.”
Writer Jill Filipovic praised the leaker for, who she suggested is a Supreme Court clerk, for “risking their career giving us this heads up and a last chance to show just how much of an unmitigated, divisive, ugly shitshow its going to be if the Court overturns Roe.”
“I doubt it will make a difference,” she added. “Thanks all the same.”
Shoutout to whatever Supreme Court clerk just risked their career giving us this heads up and a last chance to show just how much of an unmitigated, divisive, ugly shitshow it's going to be if the Court overturns Roe.
I doubt it will make a difference. Thanks all the same.
— Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) May 3, 2022