Speed has seldom been considered the forte of the judicial branch. It is not unusual for seemingly “simple” or “straightforward” cases to wind on for years.  

The U.S. Supreme Court itself has also long resisted changes to its traditions and protocols. Deliberation and decorum have been justified as signs of the court's resistance to the fickle winds of politics. That backdrop makes it all the more surprising that “what we’re seeing is a deeply impatient court” – the words of UT-Austin Law Professor Elizabeth Sepper on the Texas Standard the day of the Dobbs v. Jackson decision.

The decision to overturn Roe v. Wade upends almost 50 years of federal protection for abortion rights. Sepper said it not only reflects a fear among many on the left of a rightward “slippery slope” but "that there's not really a slippery slope anymore. The justices are running to the bottom of the slope." Sepper and others also point to a decision from the Supreme Court a few days earlier expanding the interpretation of the Second Amendment as further evidence of the high court's willingness to reject the “slow and steady” approach.  

But the greater danger to the court – and to its role in the tripartite division of U.S. government – is the concern that instead of calling "balls and strikes," as Chief Justice John Roberts famously said he would do at his confirmation hearings in 2005, the court he leads is on a political mission to reinvent and redefine liberty as we have known it, stare decisis be damned.

Many on the right see these dramatic changes wrought by the court not as "sudden" at all, but the culmination of a decades-long project aimed at correcting past errors. As many Texans and others take to the streets in protest of Dobbs (while others, including the Texas attorney general, celebrate), many questions remain about the future of the court as a trusted institution above politics and a safe harbor for liberty. Though the court has done much to expand notions of liberty in recent decades (from legalizing contraception to striking down sodomy laws and securing gay marriage in all 50 states), there is now fear that the very rationale of Dobbs will be used to undo those freedoms – particularly if Sepper is right about the end of the “slippery slope.”

The impact of this Supreme Court term on Texans is enormous, and our reporters and producers continue to unpack the implications. We invite you to visit TexasStandard.org and subscribe to the show via podcast to keep up with the latest.

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