Today in Supreme Court History: November 3, 1845

11/3/1845: Chief Justice Edward Douglass White's birthday.

Chief Justice Edward Douglass White

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[Stupid Government Tricks]

Showed up under Reason's LATEST heading, not the Volokh side.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

Today is also Michael Dukakis's birthday, which brings to mind possible counterfactuals, including at least delaying the nomination of Clarence Thomas. A bit ironically, David Souter could have been a sensible Dukakis nomination though he likely would have gone another way.

[F.D. Wolf]

Stephen Breyer, who had been appointed to the First Circuit by President Carter was prominently mentioned as a potential Dukakis pick. He would, of course, have to wait a few more years for his Court appointment.

In replacing Marshall, he may have gone with Judge Leon Higginbotham, who had been appointed a district judge by President Johnson and then to the Third Circuit by President Carter. Higginbotham, who was black, had a similar life and career path to Thurgood Marshall, beginning in the civil rights movement. He may have been viewed as too old though. Had he assumed Marshall's seat in 1991, he would have been 63 years old. President Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995. He passed away in 1998.

[Chumby]

Willie Horton was not born on this day.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

From Wikipedia (which is rarely accused of conservative bias):

"On October 26, 1974, in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Joseph Fournier, a 17-year-old gas station attendant was last seen handling money between the hours of 9:25 - 9:40PM. No witnesses testified to seeing the three defendants accused of his murder being seen at the gas station from 9-10PM and Fournier's body was discovered in the office of the Marston Street Mobile Service Station with multiple stab wounds. A witness testified that Alvin L. Wideman had confessed to the killing a man after returning to his place of residency on the night of the crime, between 10:30PM and midnight. Wideman was said to have admitted to demanding money from the man, who relinquished the money and plead for his life. The witness stated that Wideman said he then became angry and stabbed the man multiple times.

"Alvin L. Wideman, Roosevelt Pickett, and William R. Horton admitted to participating in the robbery but their stories differed in details of the event. They all agree they were together on October 26, 1974 in Pickett's 1963 Chevrolet returning from a party in Lowell, Massachusetts when they decided to stop at the gas station and commit a robbery. Horton, who spoke first with police stated that he had been driving that night and remained in the car. When it was Wideman's turn to give his account of events, he insisted that Pickett should speak first. Pickett stated that he had remained in the car while Wideman and Horton had gone into the service station with knives, according to Pickett the men then returned to the car with approximately $275 which they split between themselves.

"Horton, Wideman, and Pickett were convicted of armed robbery and murder in the first degree because they admitted to being present at the time of the crime and there was testimony from a witness who lived near the station that he saw a 1963 Chevrolet matching the description of Pickett's automobile fleeing the scene before he discovered the body of Joseph Fournier. The convicted were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

"In 1972, Republican Governor Frank Sargent began the Massachusetts furlough program that provided 18-48 hours of home leave for incarcerated. The program was designed to promote good behavior among incarcerated populations and aid assimilation into the community after serving their sentences. During Michael Dukakis second term as governor, these programs and others reduced crime by 13.4% between 1982 and 1986. [If you say so - editorial note]

"On June 6, 1986, Horton was released as part of a weekend furlough program but did not return. On April 3, 1987, in Oxon Hill, Maryland, Horton twice raped a woman after pistol-whipping, stabbing, binding, and gagging her fiancé. He then stole the car belonging to the man he had assaulted. He was later shot by Corporal Paul J. Lopez of the Prince George's County Police Department and captured by Corporal Yusuf A. Muhammad of the same department after a pursuit. On October 20, Horton was sentenced in Maryland to two consecutive life terms plus 85 years. The sentencing judge, Vincent J. Femia, refused to return Horton to Massachusetts, saying, "I'm not prepared to take the chance that Mr. Horton might again be furloughed or otherwise released. This man should never draw a breath of free air again.""