‘Roe was egregiously wrong from the start.’ In what CNN calls “one of the biggest scoops in American journalism history,” Politico reports that a draft Supreme Court opinion would overturn the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion across the U.S.
■ Read Justice Samuel Alito’s full 98-page draft here.
■ Politico calls out 10 of the opinion’s key passages.
■ Politico’s Ryan Lizza and Eugene Daniels: “Legal conservatives … have, above all else, three people to thank.”
Who leaked it—and why? Slate offers four theories.
■ University of California law professor Rick Hasen: The leak helps justices who favor overturning Roe v. Wade by “(1) deflecting commentary to breach of Court secrecy norms and (2) lessening the blow by setting expectations.”
■ The Washington Post notes that the original Roe decision was also leaked.
‘Hell no.’ That was Gov. Pritzker’s tweet on learning of the draft opinion.
■ In a more nuanced statement, the governor pledged, “Abortion will always be safe and legal here in Illinois.”
■ Politico’s Shia Kapos: “If Roe v. Wade is officially overturned in the coming months, Illinois’ abortion rights protections will remain on the books.”
■ Mayor Lightfoot: “The architects of this destruction will not stop at a woman’s right to choose.”
■ Axios breaks down what would happen immediately in every state if the court does in fact overturn Roe.
■ President Biden: “We will need more pro-choice Senators and a pro-choice majority in the House to adopt legislation that codifies Roe, which I will work to pass and sign into law.”
■ Columnist Eric Zorn: “Abortion rights will now be up there if not more important than crime, inflation and immigration when voters go to the polls in November.”
■ Men Yell at Me columnist Lyz Lenz: “The day we were assured would never happen is here.”
■ Cultural critic Bob Lefsetz: “I used to think the day they overturned Roe v. Wade there would be riots in the street. I no longer believe that.”
■ Vox’s Ian Millhiser says a decision officially handed down by the court yesterday gave the Christian right “a victory it actually deserved to win.”
‘Unintended targets.’ Chicago police say the two men wounded Sunday in the crossfire of a drug deal—violence that canceled a performance of Moulin Rouge! The Musical—were one of the show’s stagehands and a man walking with his girlfriend.
■ A Tribune editorial: “Sunday was a telling warning, Mayor Lightfoot.”
12 hours on the CTA. Streetsblog Chicago editor and Newcity contributor John Greenfield logs his rides on Red and Blue Line trains from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m.—including his decision to confront a smoker, even though he acknowledges that “it’s usually best not to.”
■ Newcity publisher Brian Hieggelke: CTA lines “have become carriages of lawlessness in the evenings.”
■ Happy “Chicago Returns Week,” welcoming workers back to the office.
■ In San Francisco, people now can hail rides from driverless vehicles.
Free tests? Hah. Three months after the federal government promised free at-home COVID-19 tests, the Tribune says they’re not all that easy to find.
■ The Associated Press answers your questions—including this one: “What happens if I get COVID-19 while traveling?”
■ Mic: “Oh, good, more variants.”
Fix your phone. Reversing long-standing company policy, Apple has launched a remarkably cheap program to let users repair their own damned gadgets …
■ … but, iFixit notes, it comes with a catch.
■ TechCrunch explains how to block your personal information from Google search results.
Newspaper pain. In a situation employees call “dark,” Lee Enterprises—owner of 16 papers in Illinois, Indiana and Iowa—has been quietly laying off dozens after averting its takeover by the hedge fund that gutted the Trib.
■ Happy World Press Freedom Day.
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