| Chief Justice William Rehnquist |
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| Biography: |
| Rehnquist Court: |
| Major Cases: Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey 1992 United States v. Lopez 1995 Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pe�a 1995 Clinton v. Jones 1997 Alden v. Maine 1999 Mitchell v. Helms 2000 Boy Scouts of America v. Dale 2000 (Epstein, 2001) |
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| 16th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court |
| Born: October 1, 1924 in Milwaukee, Wisconson Died: September 3, 2005 in Arlington, Virginia Education: 1948 Stanford University B.A. 1949 Harvard University M.A. 1952 Stanford Law School Employment: 1943-1946 United States Army Air Corps Soldier 1952-1953 Law clerk for Justice Robert H. Jackson of the United States Supreme Court 1953-1969 private practice in Phoenix, Arizona 1969-1971 Assistant to the United States attorney general, Office of Legal Counsel, United States Department of Justice 1971-1986 appointed Justice to the United States Supreme Court 1986-present appointed Chief Justice to the United States Supreme Court (Virtualology, 2002) |
| Our 16th and most current chief justice is William Rehnquist. He is now in charge of the Republican Court that was started by Chief Justice Warren Burger. The Republican Court�s focus was to expand the rights of women, attempt to increase state power, and legitimize affirmative action policies. The Rehnquist Court has sought to halt �the sweeping rules made in the days of the Warren Court.� (Schwartz, 1993) William Rehnquist was part of numerous court cases that have shaped United States Law and American way of life like Roe v. Wade. It was Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey that Rehnquist would shine as Supreme Court Chief Justice. In Pennsylvania in order to get an abortion you had to jump through all of these hoops. You had to go see a doctor 24 hours before your abortion, if you had a spouse you had to notify them or if the child wasn�t from your spouse then you had to document that, if you were under 18 years old then you had to have parental consent unless you got a judicial bypass, and then the abortion clinic had to report the abortion and record it. The Court remanded the spousal notification, they affirmed record keeping and reporting, under age abortion, and they reversed the 24 hours before the abortion doctor visit.(Epstein, 2001) This was a very sensitive case because this case could have reversed Roe but the Court let abortion stand they just modified it. The Rehnquist Court is the Court that I am most familiar with because he is the Justice now has been since I was 6, which was way before I even became interested in law. In 1997, He presided over Clinton v. Jones, which I�m sure that everyone is a little familiar with. Because of all the resources that we have today most of us, if wanted, were able to watch this court cases because it was highly publicized. Our president was charged with sleeping with this woman while he was governor of Arkansas. (2001) The trial went straight to the Supreme Court because the president is covered in the Constitution, Marbury v. Madison couldn�t go straight to the Supreme Court because this was an argument against Marbury who wanted his appointment and Madison who was appointed by the president but whose position was not covered in the Constitution. The Supreme Court only deals with the supreme law, which is Constitutional Law. (2001) There are more court cases still going through the Supreme Court that will become monumental but the latest one is Boy Scouts of America v. Dale. Dale had openly admitted that he was gay and when the Boy Scouts found out about it they revoked his membership. Dale took them to the New Jersey court saying that New Jersey law prohibited discrimination of sexual preference in public accommodations.(Epstein, 2001) The Boy Scouts said that they were a private nonprofit organization so they claimed that they didn�t fall under that rule. The New Jersey court ruled in favor of Dale so the Boy Scouts took it to the United States Supreme Court where it was reversed in favor of the Boy Scouts, taking their position that they don�t fall under that law because they are not public they are private. Rehnquist is still doing cases and we will see if he last longer than Marshall�s 34 years on the bench or if he surpasses it. He only has 18 more years. Update: Chief Justice William Rehnquist died from thyroid cancer. I will update this page as soon as I get a break from school. |