Even conservative justices have a right to privacy

I’m heartsick — I’m furious — over the conservative majority’s brute force move to do away with a half-century of reproductive freedom and precedent. My sympathies are with the protesters. And I’m steadfast in my support for free speech rights; my job and my country depend on robust support for the First Amendment.

But count me with Curley — and O’Connor — over Elrich. The pickets at justices’ homes — they’ve primarily targeted Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh — are beyond the pale. As I’ve written before, they’re unnecessary; protesters can make their views amply known at the court itself. They are, if anything, counterproductive. Maybe making justices’ lives miserable will make people feel better, but it won’t accomplish anything beyond that.

Justices, and their families, deserve as much protection from bombardment within their own homes as abortion doctors do. So yes, yet another irony: The privacy rights to which conservative justices gave the back of the hand in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization argue for authorities stepping in to shield them at home.