As soon as POLITICO published a leaked draft opinion written by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito that would overturn Roe v. Wade and its progeny, the hot takes from the Left rolled in. Demand Justice Executive Director Brian Fallon's reaction exemplified where a lot of the Left is at. They are praising the leaker as a hero, rather than acknowledging the disastrous implications the leak has for the Court.
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
Don't forget, Demand Justice is the same organization that carried out a bullying campaign against Justice Stephen Breyer to pressure him to retire from the Court. It's unsurprising that their Executive Director would applaud a move many see as an attempt to intimidate the Court.
The response from Democrats and the radical Left to the shocking leak of a draft opinion from the Supreme Court has made the purpose of the leak clear — to incite threats against the justices in an attempt to intimidate them into changing their votes. 1/3
— RNLA ⚖️ (@TheRepLawyer) May 3, 2022
It shows that threats of court packing from Senate Democrats, which have become sadly commonplace, are just the beginning of the lows to which the Left will stoop to achieve their ends. 3/3 https://t.co/zAtX8iibNm
— RNLA ⚖️ (@TheRepLawyer) May 3, 2022
Fallon also took the leak as an opportunity to justify the liberal "dark money" group's radical agenda to transform the Court through proposals like court packing.
All Democrats need to show the same urgency as the clerk who apparently risked his or her career to sound this alarm. Those on the inside know best how broken the institution is. We should listen.
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) May 3, 2022
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
The reactions from the Left also showed that they have not read the leaked opinion or are actively trying to misinform the public about the content of the draft, specifically regarding whether the decision will affect other precedents that have relied on Roe.
You don't need to read too far between the lines of Alito's draft to see a rationale for overturning or weakening
— Elliot Williams (@elliotcwilliams) May 3, 2022
Griswold (the right to contraception)
Obergefell (same-sex marriage)
Loving (interracial marriage)
Lawrence (consensual sex acts)
And a host of others
The Alito draft opinion in Dobbs confirms that other rights are at risk. Not just contraception (Griswold) but marriage equality (Obergefell) & possibly even the ban on anti-miscegenation laws (Loving) https://t.co/cU0hgweDUx
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) May 3, 2022
Democrat Congressman Eric Swalwell had one of the most hyperbolic takes in this vein, his remarks clearly meant to enflame the masses:
Florida Rep. Byron Donalds and Texas congressional candidate Wesley Hunt, two Black Republicans, slammed Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., for claiming that Republicans want to ban interracial marriage.
"The Republicans won’t stop with banning abortion. They want to ban interracial marriage. Do you want to save that?" Swalwell wrote on Twitter late Monday night.
In fact, as Ed Whelan noted in the New York Post, the opinion makes it clear that:
“Nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.”
The majority makes clear that Roe and Casey are unlike various precedents “involving matters such as intimate sexual relations, contraception, and marriage” in that abortion destroys what the Mississippi law under review rightly describes as an “unborn human being.” Progressives have been eager to claim that overturning Roe and Casey would put those other precedents in jeopardy. The majority forcefully refutes that claim.
There's no doubt that the Left is trying to stir up hysteria over what Justice Alito's draft opinion means (that to be clear, is not final). Regardless of one's opinions on life of the unborn, this effort to intimidate the Supreme Court Justices is unacceptable. All members of the legal profession, liberal or conservative, should agree that not only is the leaker not a "hero," but he or she is damaging the profession. The same holds true for those who try to stir up hysteria over false narratives that have nothing to do with the life issue, which is the only thing this decision addresses. The Left needs to stop the attacks on the Court and stop its efforts to undermine one of our branches of government.