WP: Rehnquist's Health and Vote Contingencies (will vote only on ties)

[DeepModem Mom]

Rehnquist's Health and Vote Contingencies

By Charles Lane
Monday, January 3, 2005; Page A11


Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer, has announced that he will not vote in the 12 cases the court heard during the first two weeks of November, unless the case would end up in a 4 to 4 tie without his participation.

But this raises a question: What happens if Rehnquist's fragile health deteriorates so much that he either dies or chooses to step down after he cast a vote at conference but before the court announced its ruling?

The court has no written rule to cover the contingency, according to legal analysts who specialize in the court's internal procedures.

But the likeliest answer, these analysts said, is that Rehnquist's vote at conference would not count.

This is because, until the court's decision is actually announced, votes on cases at conference are formally considered tentative. Indeed, every published opinion carries a notation indicating that a case was "decided on" the day the court announced it -- not the day the justices first voted on it at conference....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43003-2005Jan2.html

[pnutchuck]

1. I don't like the fact that his voice is only going to be heard

should there be a tie.

[snippy]

3. It is a seriously flawed idea.

If he lacks the physical or mental capacity to participate in every decision then he should not participate in any. If he acknowledges, as it appears that he is, that 12 cases are too taxing for him to consider given his current health problems, what happens if all 12 are a 4-4 tie before his vote? Does he cast the deciding vote in all 12 even though he has acknowledged that his health should preclude him from participating? Is he incompetent to vote in 12 cases but competent to vote in 11? 10? 7? 2? It is a sad and foolish attempt to cling to power. He should either recuse himself from all cases or none.

[Truman01]

2. I would think the opposite. His vote in conference while tenative

and changable until announcement would become permanent if he died or retired.

TC

[Benhurst]

4. I doubt if this will be of much consequence for long. Billy Boy is

knock, knock, knocking on Satan's door. :evilgrin:

[AndyTiedye]

5. and then it's Hello Chief Justice John Scalia

and goodbye Constitution
:scared:

One of the speakers at an ACLU luncheon:

"Things have gotten pretty bad when we're praying for the health
of William Rhenquist!"

[Name removed]

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