Breyer says it's 'possible' Dobbs could be overturned one day

By 
 March 25, 2024

Retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer said on "Meet the Press" Sunday that it's "possible" the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe V. Wade in the U.S. and allowed states to restrict and ban abortion could itself be overturned one day.

"But who knows?" Breyer added.

Breyer also said he didn't think the person who leaked the decision ahead of its announcement was one of the justices or any judge.

"I'd be amazed"

“You have a theory. People have theories. I don’t mean to be coy, but I really don’t want to get into something," he said.

“I’d be amazed if it was a judge,” he continued.

Of course, moderator Kristin Welker asked Breyer what his decision would be about Trump's immunity claims, which the court will be weighing in April as part of an appeal by Trump of a lower court decision in one of his criminal trials.

But Breyer refused to answer, saying he didn't have enough information.

“My goodness, you can make mistakes just by saying what your initial opinion is. And my goodness, how often it really occurs,” Breyer said, adding: “I’m not just trying to get out of the question, because I can get out of the question by just saying I’m not going to answer the question.”

New book

Breyer is making the rounds doing press interviews ahead of a book release.

“Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism" explains why Breyer does not take an originalist view of the Constitution.

“It’s very attractive,” he said about textualism, or the originalist view of the Constitution espoused by many conservative-appointed justices.

“All you have to do is read this. Fabulous. You’ve got the answer. Yeah, just read it, and it’s simple,” he said.

“You say, ‘Sounds good, sounds good.’ But it doesn’t work very well, in my opinion. And that’s why I’ve spent a year and a half trying to explain why,” Breyer added.

Breyer was on the liberal wing of the court, appointed by Bill Clinton in 1994. He served until 2022, when he retired at age 83 and was replaced by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, an appointee of President Joe Biden.

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