Who Is William Rehnquist
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William H. Rehnquist was a lawyer and political figure who severed the Supreme Court as Associate Justice and later became Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. During his early life he entered the United States Air Force and served in World War II from 1943-1946.
William Rehnquist was also interested in
meteorology. He took a couple of meteorology programs which lead him to a job overseas as a weather instructor
in North Africa.
William Rehnquist became Chief Justice after Warren Burger retired in 1986. William Rehnquist was nominated by Ronald Regan to fill the position. Many other political officers were pleased and supported William H. Rehnquist as he took place in office. Members of the Senate felt he would be a great judicial leader and his nomination was met with acceptance and joy by the majority.
William H. Rehnquist was known as a conservative. During his time served as Chief Justice, he was the only member of the Court with conservative views, which did not stop him from applying his decisions. One of his early rulings in 1973 was regarding the Committee for Public Education and Religious Liberty v. Nuquist.
Public schools approached the Court for State aid and the implementation of religion in the pubic school system.William Rehnquist made a dissent to this request along with other Court members who were not fond of the idea of any religious beliefs being regulated in the public school system.
However, 30 years after his disapproval, he approved school vouchers after the Zelman v. Simmons-Harris case which parents could use to send their children to to any school of their choice. With the belief that the school would further a child's knowledge. Although other members of the Court opposed this ruling, William Rehnquist finally voted to approve this Bill in 2002.
Many rulings were given the final call by William Rehnquist. He is the
one that had the ultimate deciding factor of women's involvement in the army in
1981. Although he signed previous laws in favor of some feminist beliefs, his
final call on women's drafting remained an exemption.
Other
calls made by Rehnquist reversed previous judgments made by judges. He wrote a
decision recalling the approval of raising teachers salaries in the State of
Missouri. This was one of a few cases that William Rehnquist realized was a
prolonged determination by the judicial court system.
It is his work as Chief Justice in later years for which William
H. Rehnquist will long be remembered. In the United States v. Morrison
case, the Supreme Court reviewed a Federal law
that held the courts responsible for the rulings of domestic affairs which was
always handled by State laws.
The case of the United States v. Morrison in which a college girl was raped by a football player caught the attention of the media and many people were looking towards the Supreme Court to provide a ruling. However, William H. Rehnquist passed a judgment that kept domestic affairs out of the hands of the Federal court system, which was also applied to the domestic case of the United States v. Lopez.
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