NCJ Number
158257
Journal
ABA Journal Volume: 81 Dated: (October 1995) Pages: 66-69
Date Published
1995
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the legacy left by former U.S. Chief Justice Warren Burger, who was appointed in 1969 by President Nixon in order to bring a more conservative bent to the Supreme Court.
Abstract
Instead of providing a pure contrast to its predecessor, the Warren Court, the Burger Court seemed to continue with the process of judicializing or constitutionalizing more areas of American life through its rulings on abortion, the death penalty, prison conditions, sex discrimination, and commercial speech. This author suggests that the enigma of the Burger Court was that it never developed a clear, consistent philosophy but instead was an activist court, willing to articulate new rights not explicitly found in the Constitution. Burger himself was ambivalent about the reach of Federal judicial power, as reflected in his opinions in cases involving the busing of schoolchildren, church-state relations, and Federalism.