It’s hard to imagine an uglier scenario for the justices of the Supreme Court as they move toward the conclusion of their remarkably controversial term.
A California man has been indicted on charges he planned to kill one of them. The congressional committee investigating the insurrection at the Capitol wants to interview the spouse of another. Chanting protesters at the justices’ homes are held at bay by law enforcement officers stationed outside. Their majestic marble workplace — which promises “Equal Justice Under Law” — is off-limits to the public, ringed by a high security fence.
And tensions are at a reported high inside as well, as the court deals with the stunning leak of a full draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, the nearly 50-year-old guarantee of abortion rights that has become the ultimate symbol of the political fight over the court’s membership.
“The combination of challenges and threats that the court is dealing with at one time is unprecedented in recent history,” said Gregory G. Garre, who argues regularly at the Supreme Court and was President George W. Bush’s solicitor general. “In that respect, the metal fencing surrounding the court symbolizes the challenges it is facing.”
Adds Columbia University law professor David Pozen: “I can’t think of a moment previously when there’s been such a confluence of signs of internal dissatisfaction and dysfunction, combined with external pressure on — and outrage toward — the court.”