Judging Progress: Roe, Casey and the idea of social change
Publisher
The Point
Date
2022-6-3
Ever since the recent leak of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, the media’s focus has rightly been trained on what overruling Roe v. Wade would mean for abortion access in this country. That is unquestionably the most important issue at stake. But the draft opinion’s overruling of another abortion decision, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, raises a more general question about constitutional law that has drawn less attention: Does the occurrence (or absence) of social progress matter for interpreting the Constitution?
Citation
Charles Barzun, Judging Progress: Roe, Casey and the idea of social change, The Point (June 3, 2022).