Rehnquist Quotes

[Rehnquist was genuinely popular with his colleagues, as the statements released by the court's public information office vividly conveyed. He was] the fairest, most efficient boss I have ever had... a brave, intelligent man. - Ruth Bader Ginsburg

[Professor Barton H.] Buzz ... He was a great jurist with sharp logic, a photographic memory, and a love of history. He leaves as his legacy not only scores of precedent-setting legal decisions but the modern conservative legal movement. He was the favorite of years of law clerks who always found him willing to take the time to offer personal advice. Those of us fortunate enough to get to know him outside the courtroom will miss him for his humor, friendship, warmth, and tennis game. - William H. Rehnquist

[OTTUMWA Chief Supreme Court Justice William H. Rehnquist was a] very nice, very gracious man ... rare opportunity. - George W. Bush

[Jury selection] . . . is best based upon seat-of-the-pants instincts, which are undoubtedly crudely stereotypical and may in many cases be hopelessly mistaken. - William H. Rehnquist

[However, as the late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist noted, granting certiorari is really a] subjective decision... a matter of feel. - John Marshall

[First, he found in the Texas anti-abortion law no violation of due process because the traditional test--rational relation to a valid state objective--was easily satisfied. As to the majority in Roe having cranked up the test--the law could be sustained only if the State could show a] compelling state interest... the history of the Fourteenth Amendment. - William H. Rehnquist