Chief Justice has passed away
 

Supreme Court Justice Wlliam Rehnquist had died from complication of his cancer

Oh my goodness! I cannot take anymore bad news.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9194092/

ABC cut in on the game for it. Sad sad news.

Rest in peace.



(PS - Wow, he was appointed to the Supreme Court at age 47!)

wow...

Oh jeez. What a week for the US. And what years to come with Chief Justice Scalia, or worse, Chief Justice Thomas in the wings. :(

What she said!

Today I caught myself wondering what it would take to cause the news outlets to focus on something other then hurricane Katrina and here it is.

Scalia might be a better then Rehnquist. Remember, Rehnquist supported Plessy vs. Ferguson.

I'm in complete shock. It seemed like he had been doing just fine despite his thyroid cancer...RIP chief justice, you'll be well remembered.

I am sure he was probably getting the best treatment for his cancer...and that is what prolonged his life.

My grandmother developed thyroid cancer not to long before Rehnquist did. She had surgery and it was removed-- and also had what they call a "radiation cocktail." Within months her cancer had returned and it was to late. She had to have a tracheotomy because the tumor was cutting off her airway...my mother is a nurse and took care of her at my parents home. Both surgeries were performed at the Cleveland Clinic- and if any of you have heard of the CC you know it is an excellent hospital. From the time the cancer reappeared it was one month until she passed away.

At their age thyroid cancer is a difficult battle (to be honest any cancer is)- he and his family were definitely blessed that he lived as long as he did. No matter what I think of Rehnquist personally is beside the point- to see someone die from thyroid cancer (any cancer) is so difficult and I grieve for the family because I know their loss (as I am sure too many of us do).

Exactly!

I don't know about that... if it wasn't such a totally unpopular, unacceptable viewpoint, I would bet dollars to donuts Scalia would have similar opinions.

Sorta ironic that one of the local news stations just had a black woman reporter (Brenda Waters for you Pittsburgh folk) doing a fluff piece on the legacy of Rehnquist.

ETA: Did Souter and Rehnquist hate each other? I don't know about the personal relationships between some of the justices, but I was just reading the statesments from the other justices on CNN.com and it said that a statement from Justice Souter was not expected.

That was interesting; I know it was a surprise to many when Souter moved towards the "liberal" end of the court; when he was appointed by the first President Bush, it was assumed he would be another conservative presence.

I'm unsure of whether there was any animosity, but it certainly appears there was.

I like the fact that I only found out about this today, because every news channel is shoving hurricane Katrina down our throats. I was on vacation, so I didn't have internet access all weekend, but I did have about 5 cable news channels at the hotel, and I did not see ONE thing about this until I got to the computer at work this morning.