Overview
- Hemingway’s biography of Justice Samuel Alito drew fresh reviews Friday, portraying him as a “practical originalist” and tracing his rise to authoring the 2022 Dobbs decision.
- The book details that Alito wrote the Dobbs majority overturning Roe and Casey, followed by an unprecedented draft leak, protests at justices’ homes, vandalism of pregnancy centers and churches, and a reported assassination attempt.
- Right-leaning outlets describe the work as comprehensive, while a progressive blog calls it hagiography that inflates claims of left-wing violence.
- A chapter spotlights Mississippi’s Scott Stewart, who rejected advice to avoid a direct clash and urged the Court to label Roe and Casey “egregiously wrong” in briefs and argument prep.
- Hemingway reports that Clarence Thomas assigned the Dobbs opinion to Alito after an initial vote showed five to overturn, framing the choice as a way to keep the majority together, a claim not independently verified in these articles.