How doubt became a weapon against constitutional rights Creative Work or Production

Scarffe, Eric. (2026). How doubt became a weapon against constitutional rights .

cited authors

  • Scarffe, Eric

authors

abstract

  • Four years after Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the most important part of Justice Samuel Alito’s legacy may not be the end of Roe v. Wade, but the transformation of doubt into a constitutional weapon. Historians have long documented how tobacco companies and the fossil fuel industry strategically manufactured uncertainty to weaken support for consumer and environmental protections. Today, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority increasingly deploys a similar tactic in constitutional law, using doubt to erode protections for reproductive rights, voting rights and racial equality.

publication date

  • June 6, 2026

Sponsoring Organization

  • The Hill

keywords

  • 180108 Constitutional Law

Location

  • Washington, DC

Medium

  • Online Media