Today in Supreme Court History: July 20, 1990

7/20/1990: Justice William Brennan resigns.

Justice William Brennan

Comments

[Supremacy Claus]

A never ending storm of ruinous decisions that exploded crime, poverty, disparity in black social pathology. Roe just made shit up to drive at the cultural decision. However, it prevented 60 million Dems from reaching voting age. Twenty million were were black, in a racist democide beyond the imagination of the most demented KKK. Imagine the social pathology prevented by Roe. Prior to the War on Poverty, black disasvantage in social pathology was 10% worse across all of them. After the Dems killed the black family, it went to 400%.

It took 60 years for the backlash in the Court. That is because the Justices never change with the facts. They are immune to new facts and evidence. To change the Court they must pass away. This length of time is evidence that the decisions are just bias with lawyer gibberish in support afterwards. The result is the failure of the lawyer profession. These decisions did exploded lawyer jobs and income. So we're cool.

[Malika the Maiz]

Behar is many things. Bonkers, boring, trolling but also stupid. Before the Great Society over 50% of black families lived below the poverty line, it’s less than half that now.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6934366/

[Malika the Maiz]

You also have to love how he casts Roe as racist while applauding the racial consequences, self aware is one thing Bonkers Behar is not.

[Frank Drackman]

You're gonna go blind you keep responding to yourself like that

[Malika the Maiz]

The writer of the Frank Fakeman character performed here is also quite dumb, I did not reply to myself at all but replied twice to Bonkers Behar.

It’s interesting how the many weirdo crazies (also quite dim, guess that tends to go with crazy) who post here (Fakeman, Ediot, bye, Bonkers Behar, etc.,) are always Trump supporters.

[Drewski]

I've said it before but I'm pretty sure Frank legitimately has a thought disorder. His diction is a pretty clear tell to me.

"always Trump supporters"

Oh, you haven't been here long enough. We had the Very Reverend Kirkland who was like Behar's mirror-universe double, Sam Bankman-Fried (no relation) who was just a shit-talker but not funny, and Queen Amadala or something who responded compulsively to everything but wasn't very bright. And there's me, who is me.

Edit: Almost forgot Sarcastro, who's just a tiresome contrarian who argues endlessly without much to say.

Not a ton of bullshit lefties, but we've definitely had a few.

[Malika the Maiz]

I’m Queen, ya goof. Pretty much everyone here knows that, talk about being not bright!

I respond to nuts because it’s fun and nuts are mainstream in today’s politics, ignoring them is a fools errand.

I rather like Sarc, he’s contrarian to the right posters.

[Sarcastr0]

😀

[Frank Drackman]

2 guys broke into Queenie's apartment, he yelled "Rape!" they yelled
"No!!!"
you gotta feel for Queenie though, in his Family Tree, he's in the "Fruit" Section
Queenie knew he was "different" in High School, other kids were dissecting Frogs, Queenie was opening Flies
Queenie was so disappointed when he visited London, found out that "Big Ben" was a Clock

Frank

[Malika the Maiz]

Thought disorder would explain a lot.

[Frank Drackman]

Or I've been a Rodney Dangerfield fan since 1974

[Malika the Maiz]

Dangerfield wrote like a third grader?

[Bob from Ohio]

"I'm pretty sure Frank legitimately has a thought disorder. "

Oh, an armchair doctor!

Its just his shtick. As I think you say, his point is usually pretty clear.

[Drewski]

Oh, no, Bob the fake lawyer is questioning my credentials for casual conversation! Don't yank my fake license with your fake lawyer skills.

[Bob from Ohio]

Listening to lawtalkingguy is bad for your mind.

[bernard11]

Oh, an armchair doctor!

Like all those diagnosing Biden not long ago. No complaints from you then.

[Frank Drackman]

You're way low on the number of "Missing Voters", at least 1/2 of the murdered babies since 1973 were Black, and you're not counting the babies the 3 generations of aborted females would have had, Jeez, when I describe it like that, almost makes me want to be Pro "Choice"
as the Late Great George Michael said,
"Choose Life"
anyone remember the wrestler Necro Butcher (not certain, but I think that might be a "Stage" name) and his "Choose Death" shirt???

Frank

[Malika the Maiz]

The writer of the Frank Fakeman character performed here has him weeping about black baby holocaust in between his weak sauce “edgy” racist posts. Apex phoniness.

[Frank Drackman]

Babies of all races are cute, it's a protective mechanism, helps keep the hungry parents from leaving them out for the Jackals or Polar Bears, you can say it's either Evil-lution or a Surpreme Creator, (I prefer the latter).
It's why the Pro-Baby killers refer to them as "Fetuses" if they mention them at all.

Frank

[Malika the Maiz]

Whiny, thought disordered phoney edgelord wannabe. Won’t someone think of the babies!!!

[Frank Drackman]

Somebody has to, it's in your nature to destroy yourselves (HT T-800)

[Bob from Ohio]

"thought disordered"

Queenie learned a new term!

Frank makes 5 times the good points you do, not to mention being funny a lot, while you are just tedious.

[Frank Drackman]

So you're saying I'm "funny"?? I'm here to amuse you??

[Malika the Maiz]

Bob’s problem, other than living in Ohio (imagine a state where you have to go to *Columbus* for culture), is his complete lack of any principles other than partisanship. Jefferson’s quote "If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all” is Bob’s antithesis.

[Bob from Ohio]

"(imagine a state where you have to go to *Columbus* for culture)"

Dummy never heard of the Cleveland Orchestra I guess.

[Supremacy Claus]

Those are the direct numbers. You are correct, the indirect numbers are likely 10 times bigger.

[Supremacy Claus]

Malika mentions poverty. I count that among the great stresses endured by the black population, enslavement, war, Jim Crow, genocidal campaigns. All these were led by the lawyer profession. The point is that despite these stresses, including poverty, black people and black families prevailed, with just 10% disadvantage in social pathology. That was until the lawyer profession destroyed the black family.

[Frank Drackman]

led by the DemoKKKrat party

[Malika the Maiz]

In all those areas that are now solidly red!

[Malika the Maiz]

Bonkers Behar Blathers.

[Frank Drackman]

Ike Turner could have made a better pick for the court.

[Area Man]

Both arch-liberals Brennan and Marshal resigned during a Republican presidency. Can you imagine that happening today? Like, it’s inconceivable that Sotomayor would resign this year, or that Alito would have resigned during Biden’s term. Stevens and Souter resigned during presidencies that were of the party opposite that which appointed them, but they were firmly of the opposite ideological camp by the time they left.

[Malika the Maiz]

Well, Brennan resigned in 1990, a Republican had been President the previous ten years and was going to be for at least two more. That’s a heck of a wait! Marshall retired in 91 so was in a similar situation.

[MonitorsMost]

Correct. Marshall’s famous quip was “if I die, prop me up and keep voting.” He hung on far longer than he should have.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

Justice Brennan resigned due to health reasons at age 84.

He had a mild stroke and planned to continue. His doctor warned him that he was in danger of having a major stroke if he did not retire. Brennan followed his doctor's advice.

His friend and fellow liberal, Justice Thurgood Marshall, who had been ailing for years, retired at the end of the next term.

Marshall died a few days after President Clinton was sworn in. Al Gore had asked Marshall to swear him in as vice president, but Marshall turned Gore down due to health reasons.

Justice Souter, who was friendly with Brennan, turned out to be more liberal than expected. Souter was more conservative than Brennan, more so at the beginning of his tenure.

For instance, Souter was the deciding vote in Rust v. Sullivan, which limited abortion rights. Souter also joined the majority in Payne v. Tennessee , in which Justice Marshall had one final dissent. That case overturned an earlier 5-4 opinion [written by Powell] regarding victim impact statements.*

Souter was a moderate liberal on the bench. Marshall was replaced by Thomas. Some of Brennan's causes, including gay rights, would still have some successes. Nonetheless, the Supreme Court had significantly shifted rightward.

==

* Marshall would still dissent on the shadow docket, including continuing his stock statements opposing the death penalty.

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/501/1282/

[MonitorsMost]

According to Brennan’s biography, he had his first mini stroke back during the Carter administration (and throat cancer, although confidently treatable) and contemplated retiring. His wife Nancy was also of very poor health during this time, more so than Brennan.

The article understates how bad of shape Marshall was in. He had multiple heart attacks going all the way back to the mid 70s and was in terrible physical shape. Fat, drank, and smoke. You have internal complaints from Brennan in the early 80s that Marshall is not pulling his weight on the left side of the court.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

What "article"?

If you are talking about me, the entry is about Brennan. I didn't plan to write an extended look at what "ailing for years" means.

The Brethren referenced suggestions that Marshall was lazy in the 1970s. It also touched upon his health issues.

I figure Brennan knew what Marshall was there for. He was a great dissenter who was particularly concerned about certain issues. And his clerks did most of his writing. Which was not just applicable to him.

Anyway, he wasn't there to be a deal maker like Brennan. And, as noted, he was ailing and I'd had somewhat bitter by the 1980s (he was stuck indefinitely with people firmly against his values).

Some grumbling aside, he wasn't there to "pull" much weight. Justices have different roles. This came up in other cases, too, including the different roles of the four horsemen.

[Taco8647]

The genius of the Alien Enemies Act rests not in any static meaning it might have had in a world that is dead and gone, but in the adaptability of its great principles to cope with current problems and current needs.

[ReaderY]

If wars between sovereign nations are dead and gone, that’s news to the folks in Ukraine and quite a few other places.

I wouldn’t break out the champagne over the success of the Kellogg-Briand Pact in making war obsolete just yet.

[Frank Drackman]

Who said wars between sovereign nations were gone? War's been mankind's normal state of nature for the last 2000 years or so. Slavery's not even dead and gone, you can still find it in "Progressive" NYC Mayorial candidate (the) Zoran Mandamus's native Uganda, and other "Progressive" paradises such as Syria and Somalia.

Frank

[Taco8647]

While I agree with you, I think this one may have whooshed a bit.

My comment was a Brennan quote, perhaps the most representative of his views, only with “Alien Enemies Act” in place of “Constitution” from the original.

Though I’m no fan of Brennan, it kind of highlights the originalism for thee, but not for me theme in MAGAland.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

Some famous Brennan clerks: Donald Verrilli, Michael Chertoff, Merrick Garland, Michael McConnell, and Richard Posner.

Marsha Berzon is also known as a liberal judge. Geoffrey R. Stone is a well-known law professor.

ROWLAND v. MAD RIVER LOCAL SCHOOL, a dissent from denial of cert., was an early defense of gay rights (1985).

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/470/1009/

[Frank Drackman]

Looked up the case,
showed what a Prick Brennan was, the Guidance Counselor wasn't fired because she was Bisexual, (ewww really controversial supporting a Bisexual chick!) but because she "outed" some homosexual students who hadn't wanted to be "outed"
Case was from 1985 although the "Facts of the Case" (HT Professor C. Kingsfield) go back to 1974, looking back I think a lot of my teachers were Lesbos..(and that's something there's definitely nothing wrong with)

Frank

[Malika the Maiz]

“A jury later made unchallenged findings that petitioner was suspended and not rehired solely because she was bisexual and had told her secretary and some fellow teachers that she was bisexual, and not for "any other reason."

[MonitorsMost]

Berzon being his first female clerk and I believe only two overall. Berzon was originally rejected by Brennan until the feeder law professor suggested it was going to leak if Brennan kept categorically rejecting female clerks. While still underrepresented at the time, there were a half dozen renal clerks at the Court the year Brennan hired Berzon. It was one of the ways in which Brennan was more liberal as a jurist than he was personally (he also hated the press despite being something of a First amendment advocate).

Berzon for her part did not report any discrimination after hiring, and she and Brennan bonded over child care as Berzon was attending to her child while Brennan was attending to his granddaughter.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

It is a smaller set than it should be, particularly after the mid-1970s, but he had more than two women clerks.

[Bob from Ohio]

A good day, ruined when Souter got his spot.

Of course Brennan could think and write, if mainly wrong in his conclusions. Souter's replacement cannot do much of that.

[F.D. Wolf]

On this day, July 20, 1715, King George I gave royal assent to the Riot Act. The Act gave certain local officials the authority to disperse a group of twelve or more people who were "unlawfully, riotously, and tumultuously assembled together". The dispersal would begin with "reading the riot act" to the crowd.

Our sovereign lord the King chargeth and commandeth all persons, being assembled, immediately to disperse themselves, and peaceably to depart to their habitations, or to their lawful business, upon the pains contained in the act made in the first year of King George, for preventing tumults and riotous assemblies. God save the King.

Anyone who did not disperse within one hour was adjudged a felon, the penalty for which was death without benefit of clergy. Anyone engaged in the dispersal of an unlawful assembly was indemnified against any injury or death he might cause.

Another provision of the Riot Act made municipalities financially liable for property damages caused by an unlawful assembly. An analogous provision in the Illinois Riot Act was at issue in City of Chicago v. Sturges, 222 U.S. 313 (1911). The City claimed this strict liability deprived it of due process of law. A unanimous Court, per Justice Lurton, upheld the provision.

The policy of imposing liability upon a civil subdivision of government exercising delegated police power is familiar to every student of the common law. We find it recognized in the beginning of the police system of Anglo-Saxon people. Thus, 'The Hundred,' a very early form of civil subdivision, was held answerable for robberies committed within the division. By a series of statutes, beginning possibly in 1285, in the statutes of Westminster, coming on down to the 27th Elizabeth, the riot act of George I. and act of George II., chap. 10, we may find a continuous recognition of the principle that a civil subdivision intrusted with the duty of protecting property in its midst, and with police power to discharge the function, may be made answerable not only for negligence affirmatively shown, but absolutely as not having afforded a protection adequate to the obligation.

Id. at 323.