R.I.P. Rhenquist
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Supreme CourtWASHINGTON (AP) — Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died Saturday evening of cancer, ending a 33-year Supreme Court career during which he oversaw the court’s conservative shift, presided over an impeachment trial and helped decide a presidential election. His death creates a rare second vacancy on the nation’s highest court.Rehnquist, 80, was surrounded by his three children when he died at his home in suburban Arlington. His wife died in 1991.
“The Chief Justice battled thyroid cancer since being diagnosed last October and continued to perform his duties on the court until a precipitous decline in his health the last couple of days,” said court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg.
Rehnquist was appointed to the Supreme Court as an associate justice in 1971 by President Nixon and took his seat on Jan. 7, 1972. He was elevated to chief justice by President Reagan in 1986.
Let’s worry about politics later. For now, let’s respect the man’s family and wait a few days.
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September 4th, 2005 at 12:26 pm
Hear hear. He dedicated his life to the pursuit of justice, a noble goal.
September 5th, 2005 at 12:37 am
Just our Bill
Saturday, December 02, 2000
Lito Pena is sure of his memory. Thirty-six years ago he, then a Democratic Party poll watcher, got into a shoving match with a Republican who had spent the opening hours of the 1964 election doing his damnedest to keep people from voting in south Phoenix.
“He was holding up minority voters because he knew they were going to vote Democratic,� said Pena.
The guy called himself Bill. He knew the law and applied it with the precision of a swordsman. He sat at the table at the Bethune School, a polling place brimming with black citizens, and quizzed voters ad nauseam about where they were from, how long they’d lived there�every question in the book. A passage of the Constitution was read and people who spoke broken English were ordered to interpret it to prove they had the language skills to vote.
Read the complete article. Then vow not to mention Rehnquist as a good American.