It's my impression that few people who commented on the Supreme Court Dobbs abortion decision, especially those critical of the outcome, read Alito's majority opinion. They objected to the the result -- that states would be able to ban abortion -- and were not interested in the majority's reasoning.
It’s doubly sad because Supreme Court decisions are exceptionally easy to read. You may not be able to get all the legal references but you’ll be able to at least describe the arguments, if not steelman them.
But the reality is nobody really cares (and perhaps never really cared) as the outcome matters most and justifies anything.
I set aside time every summer starting in June for SCOTUS season, and read the cases themselves. This last season in particular was the worst for journalists violating my rule about primary sources: if the actual opinion isn’t linked, the journalist is pushing an angle. And boy were there’s angles pushed. It’s unfortunate because beyond the opinions themselves you can actually go listen to oral argument at Oyez. They even sync up the transcript with the audio.
