Day 25: Harry Blackmun

[A18]

Discuss.

[MaC]

again, don't know much about him.  Sounds like a better, more conservative choice by Nixon by comparrison to preceeding class.

[Emsworth]

HP. He was a purely results-oriented justice, as evidenced by his votes on death penalty cases later in his career. He also authored several absolutely terrible opinions, including Roe v. Wade. (To be more precise, his clerks authored several absolutely terrible opinions--he merely proofread them.)

[A18]

Well, that's a bit of an oversimplification. For example, in his early years on the court, Blackmun was able to separate his personal abhorrence for the death penalty from his legal view on its constitutionality. Unfortunately, as time went on, he began to vote more and more on the basis of his personal sympathies.

As for Blackmun's infamous dependence on his law clerks, it may not be fair to single him out in that regard. The amount of influence law clerks have as a general matter these days is absolutely atrocious.

[Peter]

I would have to agree with Emsworth - results oriented towards the end of his career, his obsession with the preservation of Roe was also utterly misguided.

Whilst other Justices were ruled by their clerks, Blackmun made a point of publishing all his papers, thus revealing to all just how reliant he was. At least everybody else had the sense not to release this kind of details.

Most ironically, in The West Wing, the Chief Justice says that he would like to be replaced by somebody like Justice Blackmun because "he had a record of scholarship". Apparently the writers didn't do their research.

[nini2287]

I read his biography, by the end of his reign, he admitted to not even caring about the Constitution, he just did what he thought was best for the country.

[Sam Spade]

I read his biography, by the end of his reign, he admitted to not even caring about the Constitution, he just did what he thought was best for the country.

He should have retired and run for Congress if those was his intentions. 

Anyway, HP, mainly for the reasons listed above.

[Jersey-Con]

Blackmun's wife also had a major influence on him. In the case of Roe v. Wade, she recommended the arbitrary trimester formula. Apparently, Blackmun found the Constitution agreed with her!

[Beet]

FF. The trimester formula was adopted because it was the best formula at the time; indeed, the Court was correctly recognizing that in law there are many cut-offs which seem to be arbitrary, but drawing a line somewhere is better than not drawing one at all. Indeed, the examples are everywhere-- voting age, speed limit, etc. etc.

nini, if you read Greenhouse's biography, you would know that Blackmun did not want to be pushed into the role that he became on the Court, that his jurisprudence was pulling him away from his personal views (not vice versa), and his experience on the Court with the practical operations of things such as the death penalty were what, in the end, changed his mind on them.

[Emsworth]

Indeed, the examples are everywhere-- voting age, speed limit, etc. etc.

All of these are examples of lines drawn by the legislature, not lines drawn by the judiciary. While legislative arbitrariness is to be expected, judicial arbitrariness is something that one tends to avoid.

In any event, whether Blackmun adopted the trimester formula or some other formula is entirely immaterial, in my opinion. The very idea that the Constitution protects abortion at any stage--whether during the first trimester or the last--is utterly revolting.

[CARLHAYDEN]

Indeed, the examples are everywhere-- voting age, speed limit, etc. etc.

All of these are examples of lines drawn by the legislature, not lines drawn by the judiciary. While legislative arbitrariness is to be expected, judicial arbitrariness is something that one tends to avoid.

In any event, whether Blackmun adopted the trimester formula or some other formula is entirely immaterial, in my opinion. The very idea that the Constitution protects abortion at any stage--whether during the first trimester or the last--is utterly revolting.

Blackmun was perhaps the dumbest Justice on the Supreme Court in the last fifty years.

Even the hard core liberals on the court who served with him had contempt for him.