U of O professors weigh in on Supreme Court draft leak
EUGENE, Ore. — University of Oregon professors are weighing in on the Supreme Court draft leak.
We spoke to U of O political science and journalism professors Tuesday who say this is unprecedented.
It is the first time a leak this major has happened.
Chief Justice John Roberts has confirmed that a draft opinion leaked to Politico is real.
Experts say - from the leak to the reaction we're seeing - these are uncharted waters.
"There have been leaks related to the Supreme Court before, but nothing of this nature," says UO Journalism Director Seth Lewis.
"A leak of this magnitude is pretty problematic," says UO political Science Professor Alison Gash.
University professors are weighing in on draft leak to overturn Roe v. Wade.
If overturned, it would allow individual states to set their own abortion laws and guidelines and eliminates any federal protections for abortion.
"Regardless of the outcome of the ultimate decision, this is going to become a part of the conversation about Roe v. Wade and the court's intervention into abortion politics," says Gash.
She says the leak should be concerning.
"When there is a breach of the kinds of processes and the kinds of policies that they allow us to have that trust, it becomes a problem.”
A final ruling isn’t expected until the court ends its term in late June or early July, and she says she doesn't expect the case being expedited.
"One might even argue that it might be more delayed as they have to press pause to figure out who leaked it," says Gash.
There isn't a clear motive for how and why the leak took place, but social media is already playing a huge role, with Oregon politicians weighing in.
"There's no question that there was an intent here to bring public attention to the issue in a way that might presumably either sway the outcome or sway how the outcome is interpreted later on," says Lewis.
Chief Justice Roberts added that, while the leak is legitimate, it is not yet a final decision and directed the marshal of the court to launch an investigation into the leak.
And according to Politico, which published the leak, justices can and sometimes do change their votes.
