Liberal Supreme Court Justices Endangered Conservative Colleagues by Delaying Dobbs Release
Source: M.D. Kittle. "Report: Liberal Justices Slow-Walked Dobbs Release." April 18, 2026. thefederalist.com
The Gist
The author argues that liberal Supreme Court justices put their conservative colleagues in danger by deliberately slowing down their work on the Dobbs abortion case. Even though there were real death threats and assassination attempts, the liberal justices refused to finish their dissenting opinions quickly, keeping everyone at risk longer than necessary.
Conclusion
The liberal Supreme Court justices acted irresponsibly and potentially endangered their conservative colleagues by refusing to expedite their dissents in Dobbs despite explicit security threats and urgent requests from the majority justices.
Premises
- The Dobbs leak created serious assassination threats against conservative justices, with abortion supporters having incentive to kill majority justices to change the outcome
- Justice Alito explicitly asked liberal justices to prioritize completing their dissents because delay posed a security threat
- The liberal justices (Breyer, Kagan, Sotomayor) refused to provide completion dates and 'demurred' when asked to expedite their work
- Real violence and threats escalated during the delay period, including Nicholas Roske's attempted assassination of Justice Kavanaugh and firebombing of pro-life organizations
- It took 53 days to release the Dobbs decision, during which conservative justices faced heightened danger
- Justice Kagan actively opposed accommodating the majority's security concerns, reportedly screaming at Justice Breyer for considering Alito's request
- The Biden administration failed to adequately protect the justices or enforce laws against protesters at justices' homes
Assumptions
- Supreme Court justices have a professional duty to prioritize colleague safety over political strategy
- The liberal justices were capable of completing their dissents more quickly if they chose to
- The delay was intentional rather than due to legitimate workload or complexity issues
- The security threats were credible and serious enough to warrant expedited action
- Mollie Hemingway's reporting accurately represents internal Supreme Court dynamics