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List: Justices Who Defied Expectations
Guardian Unlimited ^ | Monday July 4, 2005 | AP

Posted on 07/04/2005 11:38:18 AM PDT by alessandrofiaschi

Some of the Supreme Court justices who defied expectations of the presidents who appointed them:

-Oliver Wendell Holmes, appointed by Republican Theodore Roosevelt in 1902, sided with businesses and voted against the president in a case challenging the Sherman Antitrust Act. Roosevelt reportedly said of Holmes afterward, ``Out of a banana I could carve a firmer backbone.''

-Felix Frankfurter, appointed by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939, became a strong advocate of judicial restraint, clashing with liberal members who sought an active court role in protecting minorities and monitoring fairness in the political process, such as legislative redistricting.

-Earl Warren, appointed by Republican Dwight Eisenhower in 1953, presided as chief justice over a court that assaulted racial segregation, outlawed school prayer and expanded individual rights against arbitrary government searches.

-William Brennan, appointed by Eisenhower in 1956, became the liberal architect of the Warren Court's decisions, and later secured majorities supporting affirmative action and overturning flag-burning laws.

-Harry Blackmun, appointed by Republican Richard Nixon in 1970, became the author of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that women had a constitutional right to an abortion and later opposed the death penalty.

-John Paul Stevens, appointed by Republican Gerald Ford in 1975, became a leader of the court's more liberal bloc in pushing a strict line between church and state, greater federal authority over states and protecting abortion rights.

-Anthony Kennedy, appointed by Republican Ronald Reagan in 1988, was a key swing vote in decisions promoting gay rights, barring prayer at school graduation and outlawing the death penalty for people who committed crimes as juveniles.

-David H. Souter, appointed by Republican George H.W. Bush in 1990, generally sides with the court's more liberal members in promoting abortion rights, upholding affirmative action and limiting use of the death penalty.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections; US: District of Columbia
KEYWORDS: bush; constitution; earlwarren; history; liberals; lostconstitution; nominee; originalists; rats; republicans; restoration; scotus; souter; supremecourt
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The source is a leftist newspaper, but the content is true. Be aware the gravity represented by the next choices (at least two) for the Supreme Court. They are far more heavy than the election of a President. Christian and "original" values of our Founding Fathers are at stake. Let's Pray for President Bush, his staff and their family.
1 posted on 07/04/2005 11:38:23 AM PDT by alessandrofiaschi
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To: alessandrofiaschi

What a PUKE piece!


2 posted on 07/04/2005 11:39:38 AM PDT by zzen01
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To: zzen01

What? Use another language, please.


3 posted on 07/04/2005 11:41:06 AM PDT by alessandrofiaschi
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To: alessandrofiaschi

Sandra Day O'Connor and Hugo Black could be added to the list.


4 posted on 07/04/2005 11:41:39 AM PDT by afuturegovernor
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To: alessandrofiaschi

He means this article induces vomiting from anyone with reason.


5 posted on 07/04/2005 11:44:09 AM PDT by bvw
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To: alessandrofiaschi

OK! This is a PROJECTILE VOMIT POS!


6 posted on 07/04/2005 11:45:36 AM PDT by zzen01
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To: alessandrofiaschi

I can't imagine why the Brits care a whit about "disappointing US Supreme Court Justices." Have they run out of British stuff to write about?


7 posted on 07/04/2005 11:50:26 AM PDT by basil (Exercise your Second Amendment--buy another gun today!)
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To: alessandrofiaschi

Has a Democrat President in the last 50 years ever picked a good judge?

The list of GOP disasters is a long and depressing one.


8 posted on 07/04/2005 11:54:21 AM PDT by Aetius
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Comment #9 Removed by Moderator

To: alessandrofiaschi
I've seen no mention of this elsewhere but maybe I just haven't looked hard enough:

I can't help but think that there is a relationship between O'Connor's retirement and the recent property rights decision. She gave no explanation for her resignation when it was announced. I wonder if we will ever know why she retired.

Everyone thought renquist would create the next vacancy but they were wrong.
10 posted on 07/04/2005 12:02:15 PM PDT by free_at_jsl.com
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To: alessandrofiaschi

Sounds like all the screw-ups were Republican, except supposedly Felix Frankfurter. However, the Guardian is totally wrong in that instance. FDR appointed Frankfurter precisely for his judicial restraint ideology, so that he would uphold the New Deal.


11 posted on 07/04/2005 12:17:38 PM PDT by AntiGuv (™)
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To: alessandrofiaschi

LOL! I think you misconstrue the sarcasm of that graphic.


12 posted on 07/04/2005 12:19:38 PM PDT by AntiGuv (™)
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To: free_at_jsl.com
I can't help but think that there is a relationship between O'Connor's retirement and the recent property rights decision. She gave no explanation for her resignation when it was announced.

While her obvious ire at the majority decision in Kelo may have accelerated the decision, she had been planning to retire shortly for some time. This was known within "Beltway" circles for at least the last six months.

While it's true that it was expected that Chief Rehnquist would retire first, as he's in obviously poor health, anyone in the know expexted O' Connor to retire within a year or two after. She just got fed up, and stole a march...

the infowarrior

13 posted on 07/04/2005 12:20:48 PM PDT by infowarrior (TANSTAAFL)
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To: Aetius

Byron White, picked by President Kennedy, was one of the better members of the court.


14 posted on 07/04/2005 12:30:50 PM PDT by Young Scholar
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To: Aetius
Has a Democrat President in the last 50 years ever picked a good judge?

Yes. John Kennedy appointed his former college buddy, Byron White, who turned out to be a staunch conservative.

15 posted on 07/04/2005 12:32:51 PM PDT by Rider on the Rain
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To: Rider on the Rain
Justice White was OK, but he wasn't a "staunch conservative", I'd rather call him a moderate and an advocate of judicial restraint. Remember that he also often sided with liberals. For example he sided with the ultra-liberals in Bakke (Brennan, Marshall and Blackmun) who claimed that racial quotas were permissible in college admissions, when even Stevens sided with moderates and conservatives in that case. He was also the fifth vote in Furman which effectively suspended the death penalty (the other four were Douglas, Brennan, Stewart and Marshall) and he also wrote a 6-3 opinion which declared capital punishment for rape unconstitiunoal.
16 posted on 07/04/2005 1:21:28 PM PDT by Tarkin (Janice Rogers Brown to the SCOTUS)
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To: afuturegovernor
Why do you think that Hugo Black was a disappointment to FDR?
17 posted on 07/04/2005 1:23:15 PM PDT by Tarkin (Janice Rogers Brown to the SCOTUS)
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To: alessandrofiaschi
The sad truth is there will be battle for the O'Connor and the Rehnquist seats, BUT even if WE get two strict constructionists that will ONLY give us FOUR and we will STILL have a LIBERAL ACTIVIST court.

I suspect the BATTLE for STEVENS's seat will be EPIC if he vacates during GW's tenure.

18 posted on 07/04/2005 1:30:58 PM PDT by PISANO (We will not tire......We will not falter.......We will NOT FAIL!!! .........GW Bush [Oct 2001])
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To: free_at_jsl.com
She gave no explanation for her resignation when it was announced. I wonder if we will ever know why she retired.

Perhaps she wanted to give the president and Republican controlled congress as much time as possible to push through a reasonable replacement for her. With the stall tactics imposed by the Democrats she may have figured a year and a half would be pushing the minimum time needed to accomplish the feat.

Just a guess but as reasonable as any other I've heard.

19 posted on 07/04/2005 1:40:38 PM PDT by YankeeinOkieville
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To: YankeeinOkieville

I gave the same explanation, i.e. a sort of O'Connor's "strategy", into another post. I think she wants to preserve an almost conservative "vote", because we all don't know any many months will be necessary for her replacement. And in October/November other important decisions will be taken by SC. Remember also that this one is not Rehnquist's Court, but Stevens's bynow.


20 posted on 07/04/2005 2:02:28 PM PDT by alessandrofiaschi
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