How to Burn the Court (Figuratively)
How often does the Majority Opinion Draft get leaked in a Supreme Court case? I know, super weird Jeopardy question right? (Man I miss Alex Trebek…anyway) To the best of my digging…never, not once.
Oh sure, leaks happen. You might say they come from “a penumbra that is an emanation,” which is right where they found that non-existent right to privacy in Griswold v. Connecticut that started us down this whole surreptitious path. Leaks like in Roe v. Wade when internal deliberation details showed up in The Washington Post. Like the leak in the Obamacare decision when Forbes, a US Senator, and National Review all seemed to have inside tracks. Or in 1919, when a law clerk, Joseph Mckenna, was brought up on charges that he leaked information for financial gain…Leaks and tea leaf readings happen all the time. But this one, this one is a doozy.
Ninety-Eight pages of leak is a lot of leak - “sink the Titanic” kind of leak. The full first draft of the majority opinion from Justice Alito on the Dobbs case that is set to address Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey is on the web. The biggest court case in my lifetime was just unraveled before any decision by the Court was handed down. How? Oh c’mon if I’m gonna write a blog about it then let's not waste time with the easy questions. The “how” is simple- someone had the information and got it to someone in the industry to publish it. See, simple. Now to the juicy, speculative stuff…
SPECULATION ABOUNDS
Why? Why would someone leak it? That's where the meat and potatoes are. There are really two sides and we have to consider them both, well three really. First, someone knew there was a market for this type of information and that it would outweigh the career suicide they were about to commit. That's the easy one: financial gain. The next one is pretty easy too, some over-excited conservative clerk couldn’t help themselves, and had to release this absolutely exciting news for everyone to read. This one could absolutely be possible because our nation taking steps towards ending the slaughter of innocence is always tremendously good news, though not nearly good enough.
“The figurative burning down of the legal system, the highest court to appeal to in cases of Liberty, would dramatically unsettle the already precarious republic.”
The third is, strictly in my opinion, most plausible. Look back at those leaks I mentioned and you will find that they all had motivation to be able to politically influence the court's decision. Did they? Who knows, but you can see the decisions for yourself (you could check the leaks surrounding Bostock v. Clayton County while you're at it). Leaking the whole dang draft for the purpose of politically influencing the court's decision on the biggest case in recent history is by far the most plausible reasoning…but what could that really do?
Let's take stock for a second and consider the potential scenarios. I will consider these scenarios using this criteria, which could be wrong but you have to start somewhere: assuming a 5-4 decision with the majority being Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett.
Scenario 1. Normal Political pushback and nothing changes
Scenario 2. Immense political pushback and you get one vote flipped, which changes the majority 5-4 the other direction.
This is how you burn the court. “Immense Political pushback” would be an understatement in our current cultural climate. They had the Court Chambers barricaded off in a matter of hours after this leak, Why? Because people are going to lose their ever-loving minds over this leaked document. Remember the Summer of Love in CHAZ/CHOP? The “Fiery but Mostly Peaceful Protests” in 2020? Yeah, how about those always calm and rational discussions on social media when you mention how killing babies inside the supposed safety of their mothers womb isn’t in any way healthcare? Now times that by a million and shake it up inside a vat of Asian Murder Hornets and dump the mixture on nine humans inside one building in DC…
“Crazy times call for bold Christians…”
That is how you end up burning down the Court, not literally (we pray earnestly that no one burns anything), but figuratively. If the usual method of exerting political influence in the past was barely enough to affect the courts, then what will the limit be here? Can threats and violence affect a court ruling? Can the Supreme Court Justices be jostled enough by the maelstrom that is coming their way? And if they can, will it ever stop? The figurative burning down of the legal system, the highest court to appeal to in cases of Liberty, would dramatically unsettle the already precarious republic.
So dear Christian, pray. First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. (1 Tim 2:1-2) When the Government wields the sword to defend righteousness (Rom 13:3-4) then there will be peace, but there is peace in knowing you can call to the Sovereign God of all Glory, who holds the heart of the King in his hand (Prov 21:1). Crazy times call for Bold Christians…Seize the Faith!
Photo by Adam Szuscik on Unsplash