Death of Rehnquist Chief Justice Rehnquist died tonight in his home in suburban Arlington. No matter his politics, I never enjoy seeing another human suffer or die. Rehnquist has done both, quite publicly, over the past year. The death of Rehnquist, for tonight at least, brings two key points (and a sidenote) to my mind. First, it's as fair of a time as any to consider his rather shameful life "accomplishments". As the only member of the current court to vote on Roe, Rehnquist dissented from the majority. In 2003 when the court preserved affirmative action in college admissions, Rehnquist dissented from the majority. When the Texas Sodomy statutes violated substantive due process, Rehnquist against stood on the wrong side of right. In my last post, coincidentally, I noted that Chief Justice Rehnquist spent the early 60s harassing and disenfranchising black voters. Memos he wrote as a law clerk indicated his disapproval of Brown vs. Board of Education. He wrote memos openly supporting Plessy v. Ferguson, possibly the most racist, worst reasoned case in Supreme Court history. In 1999, Rehnquist led a group of lawyers and judges in the historically racist song "Dixie." Second, a new far right bloc of Supreme Court justices will certainly serve for the 25-30 years. Bush's next appointee to the court likely will be a conservative in the Roberts/Scalia/Thomas mold, giving the extremists 4 votes on the court. Roe v. Wade does not immediately become threatened, but a young threesome of justices -- Roberts is 50, Thomas is 57 and the next justice will be of similar age -- can align with the 69-year old Scalia for the next several years. Should 1 of the liberals on the court retire or die in the next 3 years, Bush will transform the court into a hard right, activist court that will eliminate the right to privacy and extinguish any other progress. Considering that Justice Stevens is 86 and Justice Ginsburg fought cancer, the odds arehigh that Bush will replace one of the liberals. Should this happen, the Supreme Court will be destroyed for a generation. Even if it does not, the possibility of another Republican president in 2008 could have the same effect. Third, Chief Justice Rehnquist showed off his pompous, or perhaps flamboyant, side in 1995 when he added four shiny gold stripes to each sleeve of his black robe in an apparent attempt to give him a "cool leader costume" distinguished from his colleagues. I mention this only because it is pointless, odd and amusing. Hey, you've got to have fun in life. I hestitate to bash someone on the eve of their death, yet on the other hand my moral compass requires me to call out evil as I see it. Still, may William H. Rehnquist rest in piece.