Could The SCOTUS Leak Undermine Entire Judicial Branch And Tarnish Future Decision?

Someone leaked a draft of the majority Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. And I’m actually pretty frustrated about it. It’s actually a HUGE deal, and here’s why. According to Politico,

“No draft decision in the modern history of the court has been disclosed publicly while a case was still pending. The unprecedented revelation is bound to intensify the debate over what was already the most controversial case on the docket this term.”

So this is a huge first. This case may not be officially decided for months (although I think that they should announce immediately in the wake of this leak, to avoid further controversy and implication of influence by public opinion). While I would, of course, be elated for Roe v. Wade to be overturned, I am really frustrated that someone leaked this draft. It undermines the entire process and authority of the Supreme Court. It kind of kneecaps an entire branch of government. The one that was intentionally insulated from public influence and opinion by having lifetime appointments that don’t require being beholden to the public, only the constitution. That’s the whole reason Justices are appointed for life. So they won’t feel beholden to or obligated to please the public. But now that the public is involved, whether or not public outrage and discourse actually does influence the decision, there will always be the insinuation or assumption of influence.

The Politico article says,

“The draft opinion is a full-throated, unflinching repudiation of the 1973 decision which guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights and a subsequent 1992 decision-Planned Parenthood v. Casey– that largely maintained the right. “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” Alito writes.”

Which of course means that this leaked draft will spark massive debate and outrage. Pro-abortionists started assembling outside the Supreme Court almost immediately following the leak and subsequent story by Politico.,

If they ultimately determine to overturn, the left will freak out and say that the Justices were influenced by feeling obligated to follow through with the draft that the public saw rather than the constitution. If they choose not to overturn, the right will say that the Justices were influenced by leftist outrage at the possibility of overturning rather than the constitution. Either way, the entire system could be tainted. Not only for this case, but for future cases, the rulings for which may forever be questioned or distrusted by the losing side, referring back to the potential interference in the Roe v. Wade decision.

People will forever wonder whether a decision was based on the Constitution or on public opinion, discourse, and outrage. That’s not how the Founding Fathers orchestrated the branches of our governments to work. The question now is, was this what the leaker intended? Was this whole thing orchestrated specifically to knee-cap the one branch of the government that was the most protected from influence and manipulation? Were they just horrifyingly negligent and careless or did they intend to undermine the authority of one of our three branches of government, and thus our entire democracy?