The document, labeled as a first draft of the majority opinion, includes a notation that it was circulated among the justices on Feb. 10. If the Alito draft is adopted, it would rule in favor of Mississippi in the closely watched case over that state’s attempt to ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
A Supreme Court spokesperson declined to comment or make another representative of the court available to answer questions about the draft document.
POLITICO received a copy of the draft opinion from a person familiar with the court’s proceedings in the Mississippi case along with other details supporting the authenticity of the document. The draft opinion runs 98 pages, including a 31-page appendix of historical state abortion laws. The document is replete with citations to previous court decisions, books and other authorities, and includes 118 footnotes. The appearances and timing of this draft are consistent with court practice.
The disclosure of Alito’s draft majority opinion – a rare breach of Supreme Court secrecy and tradition around its deliberations – comes as all sides in the abortion debate are girding for the ruling. Speculation about the looming decision has been intense since the December oral arguments indicated a majority was inclined to support the Mississippi law.
Under longstanding court procedures, justices hold preliminary votes on cases shortly after argument and assign a member of the majority to write a draft of the court’s opinion. The draft is often amended in consultation with other justices, and in some cases the justices change their votes altogether, creating the possibility that the current alignment on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization could change.
The chief justice typically assigns majority opinions when he is in the majority. When he is not, that decision is typically made by the most senior justice in the majority.
‘Exceptionally weak’
A George W. Bush appointee who joined the court in 2006, Alito argues that the 1973 abortion rights ruling was an ill-conceived and deeply flawed decision that invented a right mentioned nowhere in the Constitution and unwisely sought to wrench the contentious issue away from the political branches of government.
Full article here
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/0 ... n-00029473
if the SCOTUS overturns Roe vs. Wade there will be holy hell to pay. If they get away with it, what would be next, Brown vs. the Board of Education?
https://www.rawstory.com/alito-leak/Legal experts: Alito's leaked decision also calls into question laws on birth control, privacy and same-sex marriage
As one Civil Rights lawyer explained, "The draft sets out a vision of substantive due process as inflexible — a right exists only if it’s been recognized for generations. No room for constitutional change to match a more tolerant and enlightened society. A recipe for no Roe OR Griswold OR Obergefell."
Griswold was the 1965 ruling that declared the Constitution protects the liberty of married couples to buy and use contraceptives without the government probing their decisions or lives.
Obergefell is the ruling that ultimately legalized same-sex marriage.