Not all liberals are equal

Following Chief Justice Rehnquist’s death, his Supreme Court colleagues and legal scholars offered judgments of him. For me, those of three well-known liberals stand out.

First, were the remarks of Professor Alan M. Dershowitz, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, delivered on Fox News’s Hannity and Combes, a few hours after Rehnquist’s death. Among other things, Dershowitz said:

“He was a Republican justice and his vote could always be counted on by the Republicans.”

and

“He started his career by being a kind of Republican thug who pushed and shoved to keep African-American and Hispanic voters from voting.”

Then, from the Supreme Court came a statement by the justice generally regarded as its most liberal member, Justice John Paul Stevens:

"William Rehnquist's independent, impartial and dedicated leadership of the Supreme Court has been an inspiration to those of us privileged to serve with him -- and to the entire nation as well. Charles Evans Hughes, a great chief justice whom he particularly admired, would have been proud of the example he set as the leader of the court.

"He was truly the first among equals in discharging his judicial duties in a prompt, scholarly and fair manner. He was a good friend, maintaining his sense of humor and proportion throughout the difficult period that marked his most recent service. We shall miss him."

Also from the Supreme Court, this statement by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg:

"Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist was the fairest, most efficient boss I have ever had. Speaking of his role in a 2002 address, he said: 'The chief justice has placed in his hands some of the tools which will enable him to be primus among the pares but his stature will depend on how he uses them.'

In his leadership of the U.S. Judiciary and his superintendence of the Supreme Court, William H. Rehnquist used to great effect the tools Congress and tradition entrusted to him.

A plain speaker without airs or affectations, the chief fostered a spirit of collegiality among the nine of us perhaps unparalleled in the court's history.

He regarded an independent judiciary as our country's hallmark and pride, and in his annual reports, he constantly urged Congress to safeguard that independence.

On the obligation key to judging, he cautioned that a judge steps out of the proper judicial role most conspicuously and dangerously when the judge flinches from a decision that is legally right because the bottom line is not the one 'the home crowd wants.'

I held him in highest regard and affection, and will miss him greatly."

Justices Stevens and Ginsburg’s judgments stand as graceful and informed tributes to an admired colleague and friend. Their statements also deserve further study for what they tell us about the inner workings of the court that is counter to what most of MSM has been telling us. But that’s for another day.

And what about Professor Dershowitz?

His remarks brought to mind words of another Harvard professor, the great social psychologist Gordon Allport : When we speak of others, we may or may not be revealing something about them, but we're always revealing something about ourselves.