New York Times reports conservative supreme court justice had no changes to 98-page draft of opinion that removed right to abortion

New York Times reports conservative supreme court justice had no changes to 98-page draft of opinion that removed right to abortion

The conservative supreme court justice Neil Gorsuch took just 10 minutes to approve without changes a 98-page draft of the opinion that would remove the federal right to abortion that had been guaranteed for nearly 50 years, the New York Times reported.

According to the paper, Samuel Alito, the author of the opinion in Dobbs v Jackson, the case that struck down Roe v Wade, from 1973, circulated his draft at 11.16am on 10 February 2022.

Citing two people who saw communications between the justices, the Times said: “After a justice shares an opinion inside the court, other members scrutinise it. Those in the majority can request revisions, sometimes as the price of their votes, sweating sentences or even words.

“But this time, despite the document’s length, Justice Neil M Gorsuch wrote back just 10 minutes later to say that he would sign on to the opinion and had no changes.”

  • derf82@lemmy.worldEnglish
    44·
    11 months ago

    Yeah, of course. No doubt Alito circulated the opinion to allies before circulating to the rest is the court. Hell, I’m sure Alito has had it in his drafts folder for since he was appointed.

    The bigger surprises:

    • Breyer was willing to join a plurality opinion that would have allowed the 15 week ban, but upheld the right to an abortion before then. That likely lead a conservative (probably Alito, which is just personal speculation) to leak it to solidify votes.
    • They agreed to hear the case before Ginsburg’s body was even cold. They just pretended to relist it so it didn’t look like they were going to do it immediately. It was enough to even cause Barrett to vote to not hear the case.
    • They let Mississippi completely change arguments midway, a tactic usually punished by the court but rewarded here.
    • cybersandwich@lemmy.world
      81·
      11 months ago

      Most people probably don’t realize that this is super common in senior leadership roles. You’ll share drafts and get buy in for critical things well before you send it out officially. It’s much easier to handle issues outside of official processes that might include certain procedures or ceremony. At the very least you’ll know what type of push back you can expect.

      This probably is more indicative of them coordinating prior to release of the opinion. Possibly in an attempt sway other justices by how quickly it was signed off on.