One media narrative congealing after this week’s Supreme Court leak is that President Trump’s nominees lied to Congress by claiming they wouldn’t overturn the abortion precedent of Roe v. Wade. So allow us to check the tape—and explain why respecting past decisions doesn’t bind the Court to stand by serious constitutional errors.
Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer accused “several” of the “conservative Justices” of having “lied to the U.S. Senate, ripped up the Constitution and defiled both precedent and the Supreme Court’s reputation,” among other modest claims in a statement after Politicopublished a draft opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito. The insinuation is that Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett promised Congress they wouldn’t touch Roe.