Today in Supreme Court History: September 3, 2005

9/3/2005: Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist dies.

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist

 

Comments

[Dan Schiavetta]

Knickerbocker Printing Corp. v. United States, 75 S.Ct. 212 (decided September 3, 1954): in Eminent Domain case alleging inadequate compensation for demolishing a building to erect a VA hospital, Jackson reluctantly grants 20-day extension for filing cert; counsel’s excuse was that he was busy in the lower courts, but new rule precluding this excuse just went into effect; Jackson requests that the New York Law Journal and the Second Circuit post warnings to all attorneys for future reference (cert ended up being denied anyway, 348 U.S. 875)

Gruner v. Superior Court of California, 429 U.S. 1314 (decided September 3, 1976): reporters ordered jailed until they answered questions as to grand jury sources seek stay of commitment on the ground that there was no “due process hearing” to determine whether jailing them would achieve its purpose of forcing them to cooperate; Rehnquist notes that this argument amounts to “you can’t jail us if we can prove it won’t work!”; denies stay

[Dan Schiavetta]

today’s movie review(s): Licorice Twists, 1985; Doctor Blacklove, 1987; Behind the Black Door, 1987

Around 1988 a black friend of mine gave me a VCR with these copied. She didn’t have any close white friends (except me), and had passed this around in her neighborhood, so I got a sense of black porn made for black people.

This is the era of Ed Bradley, Steven Harvey, Don Fernando, Sahara, Jeannie Pepper, Ebony Ayes and Purple Passion (what a coincidence to be born with such a porn-appropriate name!). There is less “plot” than in other movies from that era I’ve reviewed, mostly people just getting it on. This could be due to limited budgets; if white porn was done on a shoestring, black porn was even more so. There are some attempts at “setup”, and some quick humor. In one scene Purple Passion is reading “The Watchtower” (the newsletter of the Jehovah’s Witnesses). A naked Fernando shows up and she quickly changes her religion. In another scene Ebony, writing a dissertation on how the Black Man has become “superfluous”, turns her head only to be hit in the nose by Bradley’s penis. She giggles.

There are no white men, but some white women, who stereotypically are visitors interested in exploring black, um, culture. In Licorice Twists a white “reporter” (“Ingrid Whitebread”) is sent to investigate “black sex” and finds her uptight self “loosened up”.

There is some (not a lot) focus on penis size, and once again I was reminded what an inconvenience having a really big penis must be. The big guys (like Bradley) never seem to be able to go all the way in, even though the women they are penetrating aren’t exactly virgins. I’m reminded of another black friend who, a few years earlier, told me his favorite porn star was John Holmes, a white man who supposedly had the biggest penis in porn. But as a frequent female co-star put it, “John’s penis could never actually get hard. It was like having sex with loofah.”

A lot less girl-on-girl.

The old stereotype was that black men did not want to “go down”; they had a macho belief that their penis was enough to satisfy a woman. It’s not in evidence here, where there is a lot of “diving”.

It was often noted by race theorists that lighter-skin blacks were treated as higher status even by other blacks. (In Spike Lee’s School Daze, set in a HBCU, the students separate into “Wannabees” and “Jigaboos”.) This is not true here, where it’s the blacker, the better.

One could recite any number of settings where white culture copied from black culture but I don’t think porn was one of them. By this time white porn was so pervasive that it would be odd if black porn had a different point of departure. As with white porn, the scenes end with the “money shot”, and one imagines conservatives telling us that if God meant for us to watch porn, he would have made the male output less pitifully meager when called on for dramatic effect.

If there’s a general impression I got from these films it’s a more easy-going attitude. When Steven Harvey ejaculates he seems barely aware of it. Licorice Twists consists mostly of friends lounging in the hot sun by the pool, eating BBQ ribs cooked in a barrel, and to the sounds of background reggae, either having sex or watching their friends do it. I wonder if black porn changed with the arrival of gangsta rap and its celebration of misogyny and violence.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Correction: F.M. Bradley, not Ed!

[Krayt]

Thanks. And Steven Harvey.

Not sure I wanna watch such with Ed Bradley and Steve Harvey.

[Dan Schiavetta]

I was adding about Ingrid being a “reporter” and realized I had forgotten to put a first name in for Bradley and my 80's memories got confused.

I really should finalize these comments before I put them up and frantically get corrections in before 5 minutes are up.

Steven Harvey is the correct name (not the later TV star — by the way “The Steve Harvey Show” was a lot of fun).

[Magister]

My impression of Sixty Minutes is nonetheless irrevocably altered.

[BravoCharlieDelta]

What kind of person can write this sort of review 35 years after watching these things?

[The Margrave of Azilia]

We need more multicultural, woke porn.

People of all colors, genders, and sexual orientations signing consent forms and having orgies, while dining on a Lucullan feast of avocado toast washed down by sustainably-grown craft beer.

[Shamie Ervin iv]

I see Rehnquist in more of a positive light now that he has gone on. He exalted 1A.

[SRG2]

I see him in a more positive light simply because he's dead. He should have died sooner – in all probability it would have saved lives

[Syd Henderson]

I've got a copy of his book "The Supreme Court" which I enjoyed a lot. I wish he'd spent more time on "Plessy v. Ferguson" but he did a good job on "Dred Scott v. Sandford". You understand it better when you see the composition of the circuits at the time. (Remember the Supreme Court justices still rode circuit at the time, and the southern states had an advantage because transportation was worse. Thus the pro-slavery Justices had an immediate majority.

He had a restriction in that he couldn't comment on Roe v. Wade, though he does mention "United States v. Nixon" since he recused himself from that case. Thurgood Marshall apparently had a deep repertoire of anecdotes. Not much on his jurisprudence.

[Dr. Ed 2]

(Remember the Supreme Court justices still rode circuit at the time, and the southern states had an advantage because transportation was worse. Thus the pro-slavery Justices had an immediate majority.

WHY?

And was transportation worse? Much of it was by water -- the SS Portland went down in 1898, it was the premiere form of transportation between Boston & Portland, ME some 40 years later.

The courts were all in seaports, weren't they?

[Dan Schiavetta]

A man with much to hide.

[F.D. Wolf]

Chief Justice Rehnquist's death (and subsequent replacement with John Roberts) in September 2005 marked the first change in the Court's membership since Stephen Breyer's appointment in July 1994. This period of more than 11 years of consistent membership was unusually long by historical standards, the only longer one being from February 1812 to September 1823. There has been no other period longer than six years without a membership change in the Court, with even periods as long as four years being relatively rare.

[Dan Schiavetta]

The 11-year gap between departures was not a coincidence.

[Magister]

Jimmy Carter is the only president who did not nominate a Supreme Court justice in a full four years in office. Two other presidents who did not nominate any died in office rather quickly. Andrew Johnson had nearly four years but Congress shrank the Supreme Court rather than consider his nomination of Henry Stanberry.

[Dan Schiavetta]

There was a gap of 26 years when only Republican Presidents were able to nominate people for the Court.

As for Chief Justices, the last one nominated by a Democrat was 77 years ago, in 1946.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

But Fred Vinson worked out fine, right?

[Dan Schiavetta]

Died early. A centrist. Not a great mind, but such is not required in that job and he was hardly the only one.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Centrist on civil liberties, perhaps (open for debate). Not centrist on federal power (he liked it) and Presidential prerogative (he loved it).

[Dr. Ed 2]

Yes, but look at who the Republicans nominated, starting with Earl Warren. And to replace Rehnquist with Roberts....

[Frank Drackman]

"Jimmy Carter is the only president who did not nominate a Supreme Court justice in a full four years in office."
In Jimmuh's Defense his brother Billy or his Mother Lillian would have been better than most of the DemoKKKrat/Repubiclown nominees of the last 50+ years.

Thank you Jay-Hay!

Frank

[F.D. Wolf]

But there have been several presidents who served multiple full four-year terms who did not make any Supreme Court appointments during one of them: Madison (no appointments during second term), Monroe (first term), Wilson (second), F. Roosevelt (first), Clinton (second), G.W. Bush (first), Obama (second).

[Magister]

Roosevelt's first term drought was partly the result of conservative justices staying on the court to oppose his New Deal policies: in particular, Van Devanter and McReynolds had both considered earlier retirements but continued to protect conservative interests. When Roosevelt won a second term and had enough clout to force the "switch in time that saved nine", conservative justices began to retire.

Obama's second term drought was engineered by Mitch McConnell, of course.

[F.D. Wolf]

CORRECTION: There has been ONE other period longer than six years: August 2010 to April 2017. (This concluded with the delay caused by the blocking of Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland and Trump's eventual appointment of Neil Gorsuch). I'm calculating "change of membership" as when a new justice assumes office, not when a prior justice leaves through death or retirement.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Again, not a coincidence.

And both non coincidences run in favor of Republicans not respecting the Constitution.

[F.D. Wolf]

Yes, we get it. Republicans bad; Democrats good.

Adorable.

[Magister]

Certainly Republicans bad; they've used every political trick in the book to retain power and damage this country at an ever-increasing pace; the Supreme Court is one of the political battlefields involved. That you find that adorable is a sad reflection on you.

[Dan Schiavetta]

I don’t think Democrats threw wrenches into the workings of government like Republicans have.

[Magister]

[Frank Drackman]

Rehnquist was probably buried in that ridiculous Gilbert & Sullivan inspired Robe with the Gold Stripes...
Great Nixon Whitehouse Tape where an inebriated Milhouse can't quite pronounce Rehnquist's name, "Remminger......" and to think the seat almost went to Howard Baker...
And is it just me or is Capt Crisis having umm,
a "Crisis" of his own??
Frank

[Lee Moore]

How could the journalist prove it won’t work ? Sayin’ ain't doin'.

If after ten years inside it still hasn’t worked, then the journo would have the beginning of an argument.

[Dan Schiavetta]

With contempt imprisonments it's not punishment so much as "rehabilitation" -- i.e., getting the reporters to 'fess up.

[Noscitur a sociis]

What press right?