South Bend, August 10, 1986
The Highest Judicial Office
Justice William H. Rehnquist has been nominated by President Reagan to become Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, the highest judicial office of the nation. His brisk confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee demonstrate once again how deeply 200 years of constitutional history are embodied in the American way of thinking. The entire constitutional history is being reviewed. The nominee is being exhaustively questioned where he stands on important provisions of the Constitution. Prime examples are among others the “First Amendment” to the U.S. Constitution of 1791, which guarantees the freedom of speech, and the “Fifth Amendment” for the due process of law. Furthermore, significant cases, which were decided by the Supreme Court in the past, are also taken into consideration, as for instance, Marbury v. Madison (1803), the decision by Chief Justice John Marshall that federal law stands above state laws; and in recent history Brown v. Board of Education (1954), whereby racial discrimination was abolished in schools. As different the expressed opinions may be, there is a general consensus: The U.S. Supreme Court is the sacrosanct last authority to decide what is constitutional or what is unconstitutional.
Addendum
[During the hearings, Rehnquist was sharply criticized by liberals for being too conservative. However, his nomination was confirmed by the Senate. On September 26, 1986 he was sworn in as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. At the same time, Antonin Scalia was sworn in as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
William H. Rehnquist was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1924. He studied law at Harvard University and at Stanford University. From 1953-69 he practiced law in Phoenix, Arizona; 1969-71 he was Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice; 1971-86 he was Associate Justice and since 1986- Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Rehnquist wrote several books on the Supreme Court.
Antonin Scalia was born in Trenton, New Jersey, 1936. He studied law at the University of Georgetown and at Harvard. From 1960-82 he at first practiced law and then followed an academic career. As professor of law, he taught at the University of Virginia and later at the University of Chicago. In 1982 Scalia was appointed Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia; and in 1986 he became Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Arguably the most difficult and historically far reaching decision, which the Rehnquist Court had to make, was on the Presidential Election 2000. On December 14, 2000, the Supreme Court decided 5:4 that the manual recount of the votes cast in Florida was unconstitutional and had to stop. As a result, the 25 electoral votes of Florida went to George W. Bush, who thereby won the election.]
[Transl: William H. Rehnquist served as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court until his death on September 3, 2005.]
South Bend, August 13, 1986
A Sad Anniversary
25 years ago, on August 13, 1961, the Berlin Wall was put up. It is a sad silver anniversary. In the meantime, little has changed at the Wall and in the status of Berlin. What will the future hold? How long will the Wall remain standing?