SCOTUSBlog: Roe Leak Is the ‘Gravest, Most Unforgivable Sin’ 

The prominent independent U.S. Supreme Court analysis page, SCOTUSBlog, said Monday evening’s leak of the Court’s expected decision in Roe v. Wade is “the gravest, most unforgivable sin.”

“It’s impossible to overstate the earthquake this will cause inside the Court, in terms of the destruction of trust among the Justices and staff,” SCOTUSBlog tweeted. “This leak is the gravest, most unforgivable sin.”

It’s impossible to overstate the earthquake this will cause inside the Court, in terms of the destruction of trust among the Justices and staff. This leak is the gravest, most unforgivable sin.

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) May 3, 2022

On Monday, Politico released a draft of an opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito that showed the Court is expected to overturn the landmark abortion case when it issues its decision towards the end of the Court’s term.

In the Draft, Alito said that Roe’s “survey of history ranged from the constitutionally irrelevant to the plainly incorrect,” and the case’s reasoning was “exceptionally weak.”

According to SCOTUSBlog, the leak is “almost certainly an authentic draft opinion.” However, SCOTUSBlog cautioned that the draft does not represent other justices’ views.

“The document leaked to Politico is almost certainly an authentic draft opinion by J. Alito that reflects what he believes at least 5 members of the Court have voted to support — overruling Roe. But as Alito’s draft, it does not reflect the comments or reactions of other Justices,” SCOTUSBlog tweeted.

The document leaked to Politico is almost certainly an authentic draft opinion by J. Alito that reflects what he believes at least 5 members of the Court have voted to support — overruling Roe. But as Alito’s draft, it does not reflect the comments or reactions of other Justices.

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) May 3, 2022

“Will the outrage among supporters of Roe — reflected in a massive amount of written commentary on every detail of the Alito draft majority opinion in the coming weeks — become the ultimate crowdsourced draft dissent?” SCOTUSBlog also tweeted.