Althouse: The Justices pay tribute to William Rehnquist.

September 4, 2005

The Justices pay tribute to William Rehnquist.

What's with everyone but Souter making a statement on the death of Chief Justice Rehnquist? ("A statement from Justice David Souter is not expected, the court said.")

Of the seven who did make statements:

Those who noted his fairness: Stevens, Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, Breyer, Ginsburg.

Those who said they'd lost a friend: Stevens, Scalia, Thomas.

Citing his leadership: Stevens, Kennedy, Ginsburg.

Mentioning his sense of humor: Stevens, O'Connor.

Noting his common touch: Kennedy, Ginsburg.

Noting his intellect: Scalia, Kennedy, Breyer.

Noting his dedication to judicial independence: Breyer, Ginsburg.

Paying tribute to his knowledge of the Court's history: Kennedy, Breyer.

Referring to him as "boss": Ginsburg.

No one said they "loved" him, but Justice Kennedy noted that "He loved his family," and Justice Ginsburg said she "held him in highest regard and affection."

Acknowledging his historical greatness: O'Connor.

9 comments:

Abc said...: To have the two lone academics on the court, Breyer and Scalia (who are on opposing sides of most issues), commending him for his intellect says a lot. To all of those academics who argue that Rehnquist was merely a "Republican thug" and who complain that his opinions were intellectually vapid and unmemorable, take that. R.I.P.; 9/4/05, 11:13 PM
Mark Daniels said...: I find Souter's silence and the statement that he would remain so, intriguing. But I can't speculate with any intelligence on what it might mean. Can you?; 9/4/05, 11:42 PM
Charlie Martin said...: "If you can't say something nice...."; 9/5/05, 12:46 AM
Charlie Martin said...: On the other hand, the New York Times article quotes Souter about him. So I dunno.; 9/5/05, 1:36 AM
Unknown said...: Paul,

I agree with you that government workers often heap praise upon each other for little reason.

This case is a bit different: A human being died, and human beings that knew him well and worked with him are offering their eulogies for the man. It's not really a case of government workers slapping each other on the back.; 9/5/05, 4:18 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Just read Dershowitz piece (in the WAPO I think). Dershowitz blasts Rehnquist and his article suggests Souter's father (a Stanford grad) may have felt Rehnquist and Stanford (in those times) was anti-semitic.

Certainly would help explain Souter silence.; 9/5/05, 5:44 PM
jacksonite said...: Souter just wanted to score a lone dissent?; 9/6/05, 11:28 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Correction to my earlier post.

I screwed up, in the Dershowitz piece it was Breyer's father not Souter's who went to Stanford.

So i conclude by saying "never mind".; 9/6/05, 6:31 PM
The Florida Masochist said...: What's with Souter? What's with bloggers with too much time on their hands? This reminds me of the backstabbing and attacks going on involving the Sheehan woman a month ago. Here is my blog post from then.

http://thefloridamasochist.blogspot.com/2005/08/cindy-sheehan-story-or-some-bloggers.html

Grief is a personal process. It takes on many forms. Souter's silence just like Cindy Sheehan's protests can be just two such forms. Leave the people alone. You're diving into a cesspool otherwise. Is that what you want to be thought of?

Here is; 9/8/05, 12:20 PM