ROE, OUR CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM, AND DEMOCRATIC RAGE. There are three issues to consider in light of the unprecedented leak to Politico of the Supreme Court’s draft decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The first is the outrageousness of the leak. The second, and far more consequential, is the substance of the decision itself. And the third, and perhaps most consequential of all, is the long-range political effect of the court’s move.

The leak was indeed outrageous, and it will damage the court’s standing in our political system, as well as the inner workings of the court. As the court-watching SCOTUSblog noted, “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.” Added George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley: “The [Politico] article represents the greatest crisis that Chief Justice John Roberts has faced in his tenure on the Court.”