US Chief Justice Willian Rehnquist dies
US Chief Justice William Rehnquist died yesterday at his home in suburban Virginia, said the Supreme Court spokeswoman.
His death ends a remarkable 33-year Supreme Court career during which Rehnquist oversaw the court’s conservative shift, presided over an impeachment trial and helped decide a presidential election.
The death gives US President George Bush his second court opening within four months and sets up what is expected to be an even more bruising Senate confirmation battle than that of John Roberts, which is due to open on Tuesday.
A statement last night from Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said Rehnquist was surrounded by his three children when he died in Arlington.
“The Chief Justice battled thyroid cancer since being diagnosed last October and continued to perform his dues on the court until a precipitous decline in his health the last couple of days,” she said.
Rehnquist was appointed to the Supreme Court as an associate justice in 1971 by President Richard Nixon and took his seat on January 7, 1982. He was elevated to chief justice by President Ronald Reagan in 1986.
Rehnquist, 80 and ill with cancer, presided over President Clinton’s impeachment trial in 1999, helped settle the 2000 presidential election in Bush’s favour, and fashioned decisions over the years that diluted the powers of the federal government while strengthening those of the states.
