The United States chief justice, William Rehnquist, whose deeply conservative views helped to reshape the country’s supreme court during the past three decades, has died, leaving President George Bush with a historic opportunity to make his mark on the highest court.
Rehnquist’s death, after almost a year-long battle with thyroid cancer, creates a second opening in the court, after Justice Sandra Day O’Connor announced earlier this year that she would retire. It is the first time since 1971 that the nine-member court has had two vacancies at once.
A spokesperson for the court said Rehnquist (80) died at his home in Arlington, Virginia, surrounded by his three children on Saturday. His wife died of cancer in 1991.
He was diagnosed with the illness last October. He had a trachea tube inserted to help him breathe and underwent chemotherapy, but had continued to work until his health took a ”precipitous decline” in the past few days, she said.
The president, who nominates the replacements to the court, probably the most powerful law court in the world, said he was ”deeply saddened” by the death. He said Rehnquist had served with ”tremendous wisdom and skill” and his passing was ”a great loss to the court and for our country”.
His death comes on the eve of Tuesday’s planned confirmation hearing for Judge John Roberts to replace the more moderate conservative justice, O’Connor. There was some speculation that the hearing could now be delayed, and that the president might opt to transfer Judge Roberts’ nomination to the chief justice position.
Alternatively, Bush could chose to elevate a current member of the supreme court, including Justice Antonin Scalia, or Clarence Thomas.
The president will probably face a bruising battle for the nomination at a time when his approval ratings are at an all-time low and he is struggling with his domestic agenda.
Rehnquist was appointed to the court by president Richard Nixon in 1971. The previously justice department lawyer proved a counterweight to what had become an increasingly liberal judiciary. He was named chief justice by president Ronald Reagan in 1986.
Rehnquist, a grandson of Swedish immigrants, was initially called the ”Lone Ranger” because of his ideological isolation on the court. But his elevation and a succession of conservative appointments eventually gave him a working majority that let him guide the court towards the right.
He dissented on some landmark decisions during his career on the bench. They included Roe v Wade, the 1973 ruling that women have a constitutional right to an abortion. He also objected to a 2003 ruling that struck down laws criminalising gay sex, and to a ruling that preserved affirmative action to favour black student admissions at public universities.
The chief justice pressed for the expansion of states’ rights at the expense of central government; he backed the death penalty and opposed the separation of church and state.
As the highest judge in the land, he presided over the impeachment trial of president Bill Clinton.
He played a pivotal role in the contentious 2000 presidential election, siding with the conservative majority in a bitterly divided court to stop ballot recounts in Florida and hand the White House to Mr Bush.
There were many tributes on Sunday. The Republican senator John Cornyn said he had ”restored sanity to our criminal justice system … and freedom in the public square to people of faith”.
The New York Democratic senator Charles Schumer said he had ”served his county with honour, dignity and distinction”. He was ”grounded in his beliefs and was a staunch defender of an independent judiciary. People of all philosophies and viewpoints greatly respected Justice Rehnquist and will miss him.” – Guardian Unlimited Â