Chief Justice Rehnquist\u27s Enduring Democratic Constitution

William H. Rehnquist\u27s essay, The Notion of a Living Constitution, was delivered as the Will E. Orgain Lecture and then published thirty years ago, back when Rehnquist was still a relatively junior Associate Justice. The piece provides a clear and coherent statement of Rehnquist\u27s judicial philosophy, and the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy and the Texas Law Review deserve thanks for their initiative and generosity in reproducing it, in memory of his life and work. This introduction to Rehnquist\u27s essay highlights his view that the Notion of a Living Constitution was to be resisted, not out of pious reverence for the Founders\u27 insight into the moral, economic, and social challenges facing late-Twentieth Century society. Nor did his critique purport to be the product of a tight deduction from premises relating to the very nature of a written constitution. He was not a fundamentalist, or even a thoroughgoing, principled originalist. His aim was not to deny or resist constitutional change, but instead to insist and ensure that We the People, the ultimate source of authority in this Nation, acting through our politically accountable representatives, retain the right to serve (or not) as the agents of and vehicles for that change. What animates Rehnquist\u27s essay - and, indeed, his career on the Court - is not so much a misplaced attachment to stasis, or a slavish adherence to ideological formulae, but a clear-eyed appreciation for tension that can exist between the antidemocratic and antimajoritarian facets of judicial review and the political theory basic to democratic society

Chief Justice Rehnquist\u27s Enduring Democratic Constitution

William H. Rehnquist\u27s essay, The Notion of a Living Constitution, was delivered as the Will E. Orgain Lecture and then published thirty years ago, back when Rehnquist was still a relatively junior Associate Justice. The piece provides a clear and coherent statement of Rehnquist\u27s judicial philosophy, and the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy and the Texas Law Review deserve thanks for their initiative and generosity in reproducing it, in memory of his life and work. This introduction to Rehnquist\u27s essay highlights his view that the Notion of a Living Constitution was to be resisted, not out of pious reverence for the Founders\u27 insight into the moral, economic, and social challenges facing late-Twentieth Century society. Nor did his critique purport to be the product of a tight deduction from premises relating to the very nature of a written constitution. He was not a fundamentalist, or even a thoroughgoing, principled originalist. His aim was not to deny or resist constitutional change, but instead to insist and ensure that We the People, the ultimate source of authority in this Nation, acting through our politically accountable representatives, retain the right to serve (or not) as the agents of and vehicles for that change. What animates Rehnquist\u27s essay - and, indeed, his career on the Court - is not so much a misplaced attachment to stasis, or a slavish adherence to ideological formulae, but a clear-eyed appreciation for tension that can exist between the antidemocratic and antimajoritarian facets of judicial review and the political theory basic to democratic society

Religious Organizations and the Death Penalty

Over the past several years, many questions have been raised concerning the application and effectiveness of the death penalty. Ironically, the Catholic Church, a long-time supporter of the death penalty, has become one of the most vocal critics of the death penalty. In this Essay, Father Robert F. Drinan documents the Church\u27s new-found opposition to the death penalty, and discusses the influence the Church will have on the future of the death penalty

Judging Judges: Securing Judicial Independence by Use of Judicial Performance Evaluations

This Article discusses judicial performance evaluations as a check on judicial independence. It covers numerous performance evaluation options for measuring accountability, such as bar and media polls, state judicial evaluation programs, and the ABA Guidelines for judicial performance. It discusses the pros and cons of these options. It concludes that the information provided by state judicial performance evaluations offers valuable insight into judicial criticisms and can give voters appropriate criteria to consider in judicial elections

The Impeachment of President Clinton: An Ugly Mix of Three Powerful Forces

Popp argues that the 1998-99 impeachment debacle resulted in large part from an ugly mix of three extremely powerful forces--an independent counsel who abused his virtually unlimited power; extreme congressional partisanship that was motivated by the desire to gain control of the government; and media outlets that continuously sought to profit from the sensationalism of it all and consistently flouted standards of professional journalism along the way

The Impeachment of President Clinton: An Ugly Mix of Three Powerful Forces

Popp argues that the 1998-99 impeachment debacle resulted in large part from an ugly mix of three extremely powerful forces--an independent counsel who abused his virtually unlimited power; extreme congressional partisanship that was motivated by the desire to gain control of the government; and media outlets that continuously sought to profit from the sensationalism of it all and consistently flouted standards of professional journalism along the way