Peaceful protests outside Supreme Court justices' homes is good

Centrist and conservative commentators are saying the recent pro-abortion rights protests outside the houses of conservative Supreme Court justices have crossed a line. These are mobs of harassers who have breached the acceptable parameters of protest, critics contend. But such arguments rest in large part on the myth of an apolitical judiciary. Looked at another way, the protests are salutary rather than destructive, bringing something to bear upon the court that by design it has been always been shielded from: democratic energy.

The leaked draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade has sparked...