Robert Bork has died

[Dave from Michigan]

RIP, but this needed to be quoted:

"Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the Government, and the doors of the Federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is—and is often the only—protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy ... President Reagan is still our president. But he should not be able to reach out from the muck of Irangate, reach into the muck of Watergate and impose his reactionary vision of the Constitution on the Supreme Court and the next generation of Americans. No justice would be better than this injustice" Ted Kennedy

Says the man who should've been in jail and not in the Senate because of his hand in the death of that woman Mary Jo Kopechne. Bork should've been on the court and EMK politically destroyed beyond hope of return to politics. Bork would've saved lives EMK thought had no value (the baby in the womb).

yeah the attacks on Bork, especially by Kennedy were slanderous and disgusting. I understand some people opposing Bork, but the attacks when way too far. Kennedy was a terrible man and an disgrace to the senate, and an classic case of the rich and powerful being above the law.

RIP Robert Bork.

[Eraserhead]

I'm stunned how many of the obituaries for him are pointing out what a terrible person he was in a rather blatant fashion. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, I'm just surprised.

[Ogre Mage]

The real heroes are the 58 senators who voted against this HP in 1987.  One of them was the late great Dan Inouye.  The first Japanese American to serve in the U.S. Senate no doubt recognized an arch-enemy of minorities and civil rights when he saw one.

[bedstuy]

Lessons from Robert Bork's life:
1.  Don't grow a strange beard that makes you look: A. Crazy and B. Like a half-man, half-goat. 

2.  You catch more flies with honey than staunch rebukes about strict constructionism and how every liberal is an imbecile.

In all honesty, Bork was clearly a brilliant guy.  I don't agree with his opinions in general but in many ways they were needed to correct the excesses of the Warren era.  He ultimately would not have been much worse than Scalia or Rehnquist for liberal causes.

[Maxwell]

But seriously, RIP (a fine scholar even if I disagree with his conclusions).

[Ogre Mage]

Lessons from Robert Bork's life:
1.  Don't grow a strange beard that makes you look: A. Crazy and B. Like a half-man, half-goat. 

2.  You catch more flies with honey than staunch rebukes about strict constructionism and how every liberal is an imbecile.

In all honesty, Bork was clearly a brilliant guy.  I don't agree with his opinions in general but in many ways they were needed to correct the excesses of the Warren era.  He ultimately would not have been much worse than Scalia or Rehnquist for liberal causes.

I agree Bork would have been similar to Scalia.  But Rehnquist is another matter.  In 1996, Justice Ginsburg wrote a landmark opinion, United States v. Virginia which struck down the Virginia Military Institute's male-only admission policy.  Then-Chief Justice Rehnquist concurred.  I would bet money that Bork would have dissented.  Scalia did dissent.

Then there is Nevada v. Hibbs (2003).  Hibbs, a Nevada state employee tried to take unpaid leave from work under the Family Medical Leave Act.  His employer refused, claiming the state was immune to federal mandates.  Hibbs sued.

The Court ruled 6-3 in favor of Hibbs.  Some bits from the majority opinion:

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http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/01-1368.ZS.html

This opinion may sound like it was written by Justice Ginsburg, but it was written by Rehnquist.  Yep, Rehnquist, the great states rights advocate, wrote the majority opinion upholding the right to sue under the FMLA.  And he defended the right of the federal government to prevent gender discrimination!

Bork would never have written these words.

[RIP Robert H Bork]

Somebody had to make sure the country knew that Bork was an extremist that didn't deserve to be on any court. This is one of Teddy Kennedy's greatest legacies! Also I agree with Hawkeye that life begins at birth.

You're a fan of slander and smear tactics?

[bedstuy]

This opinion may sound like it was written by Justice Ginsburg, but it was written by Rehnquist.  Yep, Rehnquist, the great states rights advocate, wrote the majority opinion upholding the right to sue under the FMLA.  And he defended the right of the federal government to prevent gender discrimination!

Bork would never have written these words.

We could go back and forth with individual Supreme Court cases.  For example, Scalia is "liberal" on criminal law issues.  But I'll grant you that overall, you're basically correct that Bork would be closer to the Scalia/Thomas wing than Rehnquist.

However, I think Rehnquist was actually conservative, but pragmatic.  He liked writing important majority opinions so he would go along with the liberal justices from time to time.  If you look at his opinions when he was the loner conservative in the 70s, there's some pretty hard line stuff.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

If Bork had been admitted into the club, he might have mellowed out in his later years instead of hardening into a bitter old coot.

[Gass3268]

Somebody had to make sure the country knew that Bork was an extremist that didn't deserve to be on any court. This is one of Teddy Kennedy's greatest legacies! Also I agree with Hawkeye that life begins at birth.

You're a fan of slander and smear tactics?

It's not slander and smear tactics if it's the truth!

[Wiz in Wis]

... and nothing of value was lost.

[politicallefty]

RIP, but I have to say I'm very thankful he never got on the Supreme Court.

[Ogre Mage]

This opinion may sound like it was written by Justice Ginsburg, but it was written by Rehnquist.  Yep, Rehnquist, the great states rights advocate, wrote the majority opinion upholding the right to sue under the FMLA.  And he defended the right of the federal government to prevent gender discrimination!

Bork would never have written these words.

We could go back and forth with individual Supreme Court cases.  For example, Scalia is "liberal" on criminal law issues.  But I'll grant you that overall, you're basically correct that Bork would be closer to the Scalia/Thomas wing than Rehnquist.

However, I think Rehnquist was actually conservative, but pragmatic.  He liked writing important majority opinions so he would go along with the liberal justices from time to time.  If you look at his opinions when he was the loner conservative in the 70s, there's some pretty hard line stuff.

It does appear that Rehnquist's support for women's rights is something he bloomed into during his later years on the Court.  Blackmun, Stevens, O'Connor, Kennedy and Souter are the Republican nominees people usually point to as having drifted leftward.  But even a solid conservative like Rehnquist was not completely immune to evolving.

In contrast, Scalia and Thomas never evolved.  And I am convinced Bork would not have either.  Nothing he has said or done since 1987 suggests that.  As for his death, it is sad for his family.