Chief Justice William Rehnquist has died

[okendri]

Cnn has just announced the William Rehnquist has died. They are reporting that he passed due to complications from thyroid cancer this Saturday evening. I can't find a link at the moment, but will post one as soon as I find one.

WASHINGTON - Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died Saturday evening at his home in suburban Virginia, said Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg.



A statement from the spokeswoman said he was surrounded by his three children when he died in Arlington.

"The Chief Justice battled thyroid cancer since being diagnosed last October and continued to perform his dues on the court until a precipitous decline in his health the last couple of days," she said.

Rehnquist was appointed to the Supreme Court as an associate justice in 1971 by President Nixon and took his seat on Jan. 7, 1982. He was elevated to chief justice by President Reagan in 1986.

[Vagrant]

I just caught it on FOX. I don't really know what to say. That's two open posts on the court to fight over.

My prediction, is utter caos. Biblical type stuff. There will be roving armed gangs of politicians shooting up Capitol Hill. The President and his staff will be forced hole up in the White House, with trash piling up, and no luxuries such as no portable toilets or deodorant. Democat snipers will prevent Marine 1 from attempting a recovery. The President will make an rambling, impassioned speech decrying the lack of intervention and make pleas for 'no more press confrences'. Looters will burn the Library of Congress to the ground. Intervention forces from Iraq will be in position to liberate the President any day now.:D

[Lord Dalek]

Eh, he was going to retire at the end of the year regardless. Can't say I care.

[solarflere]

Can't say It was unexpected, he was old and sick. And now there are two empty seats in the Supreme Court (hearings started on the O'Conor replacement) and one Chief Justice Promotion up for grabs.

[Delthayre]

Oh, this is an exceptionally bad time for this. A death is a tragedy, the death of the man holding a politically contentious position while a horrific disaster is ravaging part of the American south and causing a political backlash of its own is a nightmare given collective human form.

Oh dear mercy let the replacement not be Scalia.

[Aquadementia]

Wow.
I can't say I'm too surprised except he insisted on working until the end.
Still, his life time appointment lasted 33 years, it's a big deal.

[EinBebop]

Here is a list of key dates in William H. Rehnquist's tenure on the U.S. Supreme Court:

(Associated Press)

-Jan. 7, 1972: Takes seat on Supreme Court after nomination by President Nixon. Confirmed by Senate, 68-26.

-Jan. 22, 1973: One of two dissenters in Roe v. Wade, which overturned individual states' laws against abortion and recognized the practice as a constitutional right.

-December 1981: Hospitalized for a week for withdrawal from a prescription drug he was taking for back pain.

-Sept. 26, 1986: Sworn in as chief justice after President Reagan names him to replace retiring Warren Burger; confirmed by Senate in 65-33 vote.

-June 29, 1988: Writes majority opinion upholding Independent Counsel Act, which was passed in post-Watergate era to help prevent abuses in the executive branch.

-April 26, 1995: Writes majority opinion striking down a federal law mandating a "gun-free zone" around public schools, in a landmark decision preserving states' rights.

-January 1999: Presides over President Clinton's impeachment trial in the Senate that eventually acquits him. Rehnquist's court had ruled in May 1997 that Paula Jones could sue Clinton for sexual harassment.

-Dec. 12, 2000: Joins four other Republican-nominated justices in Bush v. Gore ruling that stops presidential ballot recounts in Florida, making Republican George W. Bush the winner.

-June 27, 2002: Writes majority opinion declaring that an Ohio taxpayer-funded voucher program was not a violation of the separation of church and state; 96 percent of the students using vouchers in that case attended religious schools. _Oct. 1, 2004: Turns 80 to become the second-oldest chief justice. Only Roger Taney, who presided in the mid-1800s until his death at 87, served longer.

-Oct. 25, 2004: Discloses he has thyroid cancer, prompting speculation about an imminent retirement one week before the presidential election.

-Jan. 20, 2005: Emerges from months of seclusion to swear in President Bush.

-March 21, 2005: Defying expectations, returns to bench after five-month absence.

[Drachentöter]

Oh, no.....

[wonderfly]

Oh, no.....
What do you mean?

[Zach]

So long, Mr. Rehnquist. Hello, political chaos.