Political Rewind: Bombshell leak on Roe v. Wade opinion; Special grand jury seated in election probe

Caption

The U.S. Supreme Court is seen early Tuesday, May 3, 2022 in Washington. A draft opinion suggests the U.S. Supreme Court could be poised to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide, according to a Politico report released Monday. Whatever the outcome, the Politico report represents an extremely rare breach of the court's secretive deliberation process, and on a case of surpassing importance.

Credit: AP, Jose Luis Magana

The panel: 

Emma Hurt — Reporter, Axios Atlanta

Stephen Fowler — Political reporter, GPB News

Tamar Hallerman — Senior reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Tia Mitchell — Washington reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The breakdown: 

1. Opinion over Roe v. Wade case leaked from Supreme Court. 

• Politico reported on the leaked the documents.
  • The draft of the opinion was written by Justice Samuel Alito and circulated in February. 
    • Georgia native son, Justice Clarence Thomas, joined Alito on the decision. 
    • Donald Trump's three appointees also voted to overturn the 50-year-old ruling.
    • Justices Stephen Breyer, Elana Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor were working on dissents.
• The Scotusblog on Twitter called the leak, "the gravest, most unforgivable sin."

2. What does the potential ruling mean for Georgia?

• If Roe v. Wade  is reversed, it would not federally outlaw abortion. However, it would shift the power to states.
• In 2019, Gov. Brian Kemp signed a six-week abortion ban into law.
  • But, the law is being held up in federal court as they await a final decision from the Supreme Court. 
    • The Supreme Court leak comes from a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Mississippi’s ban on most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

3. Candidates and elected officials weigh in on the new of the leak.

• The news comes as 13 states are holding primary elections, including Georgia, where early voting is already underway.
• An AJC poll in January showed about 68% of Georgia voters did not want the decision overturned.
• Sen. Raphael Warnock, who is running for reelection, has already responded to the news. 

4. Special grand jury seated in 2020 election probe.

• Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis announced her probe early last year.
• The jury will look into former President Donald Trump and his allies.
  • Tamar Hallerman reports more than 30 people say they won't testify without a subpoena. 

5. Secretary of state debate focuses on 2020 election results. 

• On the Democratic side, state Rep. Bee Nguyen is the fundraising frontrunner with more than $1.1 million raised as of the last campaign finance deadline. 
• On the Republican side, incumbent Brad Raffensperger defended attacks from U.S. Rep. Jody Hice about certifying the 2020 election results. 
• You can watch the remaining Atlanta Press Club debates on GPB TV tonight. 

Wednesday on Political Rewind: 

Emory Law's Fred Smith joins the panel.