home

Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated)

By TChris, Section Supreme Court
Posted on Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 12:37:40 PM EST
Tags: (all tags)
Share This: Digg! StumbleUpon del.icio.us reddit reddit

by TChris

Disregarding his mother's admonition not to speak ill of the dead, Alan Dershowitz discusses the legal legacy of Chief Justice Rehnquist.

So here’s the truth about Chief Justice Rehnquist you won’t hear on Fox News or from politicians. Chief Justice William Rehnquist set back liberty, equality, and human rights perhaps more than any American judge of this generation.

Update: Laurence Tribe takes a friendlier, but still realistic, view:

Chief Justice Rehnquist's goal of weakening the checks on presidential power happily met decisive opposition within the court, although I worry that the seeds he planted to that end might yet bear dangerous fruit. No pleasure in argument could overcome my sadness at the Supreme Court's performance in the 2000 election, or my disappointment at how far the chief justice succeeded in his goals of lowering the wall of separation between church and state, shrinking Congress's power and reducing the protections accorded the mostly poor people of color who are suspected or accused of crime.

< Warnings From Before the Storm Made Landfall | Say Hello >

  • The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news

  • Contribute To TalkLeft


    • Display: Sort:
    Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) | 35 comments (35 topical)
    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#1)
    by pigwiggle on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:08 PM EST
    TChris- Wow, so much for the old meme of not ‘speaking ill of the dead’. I have a feeling you’ll be able to celebrate the death of states rights and any reasonable limits on the commerce clause as well. Although, I wouldn’t pop that cork until we see the Presidents next nominee.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:08 PM EST
    Look people, Rehnqusist was a tool to be used against you and help in the mass murder of the USA. And it worked real well. and as far as old Dershowitz goes he said torture was ok, do you remember that state-ment? bush loves him, and as far as the boys care you have been sold into slavery and once more "see it as it really is", and ask who is the real enemy?...by the way, in the coming civil and race war do as little evil as you can, because the world oligarchies want you to do much evil. don't be surprised when you see the flag of Aztlan in L.A. It is the flag of evil.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#31)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:15 PM EST
    As I noted in my first response to PW, our discussion was off-topic. However, he raised it and I responded. If this was problematic for anyone, all that was required was the usual suggestion to move over to the open thread which I would gladly have done. Have to wonder - was the quick and unnecessarily hostile response a result of the topic? P.S. This post is in response to TalkLeft's announcement. If this discussion should be posted on the open thread then make that suggestion.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:17 PM EST
    Kerry lost. I have to accept whover they pick. I'm so tired of fighting. One thing that bothers me, if they are so into following the Bible, and stamping out sex, how gambling is okay for them? Jesus said gambling was a sin. How come so many gambling establishments have popped up in their red states?

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:17 PM EST
    Chief Justice William Rehnquist set back liberty, equality, and human rights perhaps more than any American judge of this generation.
    Well, duh.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#5)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:17 PM EST
    Wow, so much for the old meme of not ‘speaking ill of the dead’. I have a feeling you’ll be able to celebrate the death of states rights and any reasonable limits on the commerce clause as well.
    Yes, limiting equal rights to only WHITE americans is defending state's rights and limiting the commerce clause. Between Katrina comments and this comment you aren't a libertarian, just another white supremacist.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#29)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:17 PM EST
    Nice to know Grad Student is still highjacking threads. Last time I checked, this thread was not the place to vent about when your particular choice of superstition teaches that life begins.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#30)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:17 PM EST
    Grad student's comments and those in response are being deleted. If he hijacks a thread again, he will be banned.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#6)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:18 PM EST
    Kinda ironic that his passing was overshadowed by the deaths of thousands of people he fought his whole life to keep second class citizens. And if that sounds harsh...well the truth sometimes is.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:18 PM EST
    Do you think when they all reached those pearly gates at the same time those second class citizens tasted justice?

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:18 PM EST
    How disgusting! You should be ashamed of yourselves for linking to this post. Even if everything that Dershowitz says is true, it is a disgusting display of partisan attack. I just spent much of my time berating Fred Phelps for protesting at our dead soldiers funerals. If you know Phelps, you know what a truly disgusting human he is. You don't behave like this after someone has recently died to protect their family, not the dead. It is a sad day when a man that is proud of his Jewish heritage is willing to act in the same fashion as men like Phelps. At least now I know that Dershowitz is a political hack without the good common-sense his mother tried to impart to him.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#9)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:18 PM EST
    Do you think when they all reached those pearly gates at the same time those second class citizens tasted justice?
    Only if there's a god in heaven.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:18 PM EST
    "if everything that Dershowitz says is true" it needs to be spoken. Now more than ever.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#11)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:18 PM EST
    Cuz there's bugger all down here on earth. Hat tip to Monty Python.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:18 PM EST
    Posted by gentlyweepingguitar: "Kerry lost. I have to accept whover they pick. I'm so tired of fighting." Another day, another TROLL. What liars you sh*theads are. I'm sure YOUR mothers are very proud of you. Bush's mom just said: "This is working out very well for them." Meaning the refugees. Ugly racist pig that she is, you no doubt applaud her. Kerry won Ohio. Two Cuyahoga voting officials have been indicted for blocking the legal recount, so far. Four grand juries sitting in Ohio; more indictments coming.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:18 PM EST
    Posted by Sean Sirrine: "Even if everything that Dershowitz says is true, it is a disgusting display of partisan attack." Dershowitz vigorously supported Bush's illegal invasion in Iraq. He is a racist. He's on YOUR side. I didn't hear you attacking him when he was singing your tune.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#14)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:18 PM EST
    "Another day, another TROLL." I'm not a troll. I'm just out of ideas how to fight this evil. I'm sick. I'm weeping. Nobody will listen. "Even if everything that Dershowitz says is true, it is a disgusting display of partisan attack." The disgusting display of partisan attack is the Republicans rushing forward with the Roberts confirmation hearings without taking the time to 1) take care of Katrina's victims and 2) Thoroughly investigatig Roberts.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#15)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:18 PM EST
    hey guitar, don't mind PinLA, he apparently attacks even folks who agree with him, just not to his extent. (BTW, PinLA, if TL reads your posts you're probably not long for this site.) Sirrine - a man is known by his actions. Hitler is dead, we don't speak kindly of him. Son of Sam is dead, we don't speak kindly of him. There are a lot of dead people that folks don't speak kindly of. If Rehnquist was a racist, that is a fact, not speaking badly of him. I come not to praise caesar, but to bury him.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#16)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:18 PM EST
    Ok, I'll bite. What the hell are you people talking about? Rehnquist a racist? Christ forbidding gambling? Stamp out sex???? (?)(?)(!)

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#17)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:18 PM EST
    Posted by gentlyweepingguitar: "I'm not a troll. I'm just out of ideas how to fight this evil. I'm sick. I'm weeping. Nobody will listen." I don't believe you for a second. It's not the first time that rightwing TROLLS with idiotic handles come on and suggest what 'we' should do. If you feel like crying into your whiskey, why mention it here, at the site of a lawyer who fights capital punishment cases and has seen PLENTY of injustice. Kerry WON the 2004 election, but we haven't had a legal election in five years, since THIRTY STATES were Diebolded out of their recount rights. Since I mentioned that in my reply to your trolling self-pity routine, and you ignored it, it is clear that you aren't what you say. As for 'sailor,' he's a sailor in the Biblical sense. While innocence is moot and treason is the method of scoundrels who lie for sheer partisan greed, you can expect a lot of shouting from those of us who WILL NEVER give ourselves up to useless sorrow. WE WANT JUSTICE. *Please make a note of it.*

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#18)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:18 PM EST
    Paul in LA, an attack upon me is sorely misguided. I'm on your side. You said: "Kerry WON the 2004 election, but we haven't had a legal election in five years, since THIRTY STATES were Diebolded out of their recount rights." Yeah, and Bush is President and we're still fighting the "terrorists" in Iraq, and people like PPJ are still distorting the facts to defend him. I'm tired, I'm tired. "Since I mentioned that in my reply to your trolling self-pity routine, and you ignored it, it is clear that you aren't what you say." You are assuming. And you are wrong. Quit beating up on me and get PPJ.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#19)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:18 PM EST
    Sailor, All the comments about Rehnquist being a racist are completely unsubstantiated. To attack a dead man that acted lawfully his whole life and was so well respected that he became Chief Justice, (a harder spot to get than the Presidency), is shameful. You think it is so important to talk about what a dead man, that has no more power in the U.S., did when he was in college that it can't wait a few days? I mean heaven forbid that someone not know about his actions as a child before they bury him! That would be so...so...unfair and unjust and just mean spirited! Next time you want to call the conservatives heartless thugs, think about Rehnquist's family and what you have decided they should be put through while they try to mourn him.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#20)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:18 PM EST
    You know, with the way the rightwing always finds it convenient to disregard and speak ill of a potential candidate's military service, something that is supposed to be sacred and taboo, I have absolutely no problem speaking ill of their dead. Rot where you deserve to rot, Rhenquist. The only ones who will miss you are the little Nazi brownshirts who mourn the loss of one of their own.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#21)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:18 PM EST
    SS-the violins are playing but noone here is weeping.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#22)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:18 PM EST
    That's very nice Squeaky, I suppose you're one of those people that applauds Fred Phelp's picketing at our dead soldiers' funerals. I mean as Fenria says "you should rot where you deserve to rot." And I guess that means that you think it was okay for Phelps to picket with signs reading "your son is burning in hell because he is a fag" at Mathew Shephard's funeral. It is sad that people would rather put their politics ahead of basic moral decency.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#23)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:18 PM EST
    SS-Fred Phelps is someone you can also weep for when he dies. I will not be joining you. It is sad that Rehnquist would put his politics ahead of basic moral decency.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#24)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:18 PM EST
    It is sad that people would rather put their politics ahead of basic moral decency.
    Yeah and Rehnquist did that for what, 80-something years? Go mourn silently, thanks.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#25)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:18 PM EST
    Maybe all you Renquist supporters didn't take the time to read what Dershowitz had to say. Here are a few highlights: "Rehnquist bragged about being first in his class at Stanford Law School. Today Stanford is a great law school with a diverse student body, but in the late 1940s and early 1950s, it discriminated against Jews and other minorities, both in the admission of students and in the selection of faculty...Rehnquist not only benefited in his class ranking from this discrimination; he was also part of that bigotry. As a law clerk, Rehnquist wrote a memorandum for Justice Jackson while the court was considering several school desegregation cases, including Brown v. Board of Education. Rehnquist’s memo, entitled “A Random Thought on the Segregation Cases,” defended the separate-but-equal doctrine embodied in the 1896 Supreme Court case of Plessy v. Ferguson. Rehnquist concluded the Plessy “was right and should be reaffirmed.” The young Rehnquist began his legal career as a Republican functionary by obstructing African-American and Hispanic voting at Phoenix polling locations (“Operation Eagle Eye”) Rehnquist later bought a home in Vermont with a restrictive covenant that barred sale of the property to ''any member of the Hebrew race.” He was a friend of corporations, polluters, right wing Republicans, religious fundamentalists, homophobes, and other bigots."

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#26)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:19 PM EST
    paul, we have no sides we only look at each other as faceless aliens; we may as well be extra-terrestrials.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#27)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:19 PM EST
    Posted by gentlyweepingguitar: "Paul in LA, an attack upon me is sorely misguided. I'm on your side." Well then, please accept my apology. Kerry didn't lose. We do NOT have to accept anything they do. You may feel disempowered -- let me assure you that this gives Karl Rove great joy. Chin up!

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#28)
    by pigwiggle on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:19 PM EST
    Sailor-
    “Yes, limiting equal rights to only WHITE americans is defending state's rights and limiting the commerce clause.”
    The two decisions that came to mind were Kelo and Raich, but I assume you can point me to one of Justice Rehnquist’s decisions that defend the rights of only white Americans.
    “you aren't a libertarian, just another white supremacist.”
    Let me clue you in to what white supremacy is all about. Comparing my post to this horror is little different than the Genocide Awareness Project using the terror of the holocaust and other high profile genocides to push their pro-life agenda. It slights the real victims and is shameful and sickening. If my points are as crooked and empty as the organizations you claim I sympathize with then you should have no problem besting them and embarrassing me. But you avoid my points and instead indulge in juvenile and cowardly name-calling. It makes you look small and ignorant; instead you embarrass yourself.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#32)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:20 PM EST
    Once again, I'd like to apologize for attacking 'gentlyweepingguitar' with the aspersion of being a troll. In retrospect, it was the onrushing blast of Hurricane Blame-Anyone-But-Bush that led to my being temporarily flooded with antipathy. Dershowitz is a Zionist, a supporter of the dismantlement or neutralization of Iraq, and as such a racist. However, his racism is not reflected in his comments on Rehnquist, just as Christopher Hitchens' racism is often veiled in his commentary. It is, though, like the pot and the kettle, when it comes to his complaints about Rehnquist. He doesn't like Rehnquist's antisemitism, and I share his distaste. But since Haley Barbour and his Concerned Citizens Council (KKK) are major Bush-backers, Dershowitz should also condemn the man whose genocidal policies he supports, and reconsider his alignments.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#33)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:21 PM EST
    Dershowitz is a Zionist, a supporter of the dismantlement or neutralization of Iraq, and as such a racist. However, his racism is not reflected in his comments on Rehnquist, just as Christopher Hitchens' racism is often veiled in his commentary.
    Sigh. Sorry to go off-topic, but I cannot let that statement go by without a response. Definition:
    A Jewish movement that arose in the late 19th century in response to growing anti-Semitism and sought to reestablish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Modern Zionism is concerned with the support and development of the state of Israel.
    That's what Zionism is. It has nothing to do with the war in Iraq. Trust me. I work at a Jewish organization which supports Israel's existence, but most of my coworkers are totally against the war in Iraq. Yes, the neocons of the Bush administration claim they support Israel, and they also helped lead us into war. Alas, some of them are Jewish. Some of them may be racist. Certainly, the policies of the last few years have been harmful to people of color. But that doesn't make Zionism itself racist. If you're concerned about racism and injustice, don't start flirting with antisemitism.

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#34)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:21 PM EST
    PW - I've re-posted my last response on the Monday Open Thread. It violates no site policies but it may well be deleted on a whim (should you not find it there).

    Re: Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) (none / 0) (#35)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:21 PM EST
    gs-How ironic that you were aborted from the Rehnquist thread. Roe v Wade must be on your mind. link

    Dershowitz on Rehnquist (Updated) | 35 comments (35 topical)