America has lost a great symbol of her dedication to Liberty and personal Freedom. On Saturday, 4 September 2005, we lost Chief Justice William Rehnquist to thyroid cancer, a disease he had been battling for years.
Rehnquist led the Court's revival of federalism and its greater respect for property rights, both of which are essential to individual liberty. Most important, perhaps, by recasting federalism as concerned less with states rights than with the scope of the federal government's enumerated powers, he revived debate over the Constitution's basic principles. For that alone Mr. Rehnquist will long be remembered.
Rehnquist led the Court's revival of federalism and its greater respect for property rights, both of which are essential to individual liberty. Most important, perhaps, by recasting federalism as concerned less with states rights than with the scope of the federal government's enumerated powers, he revived debate over the Constitution's basic principles. For that alone Mr. Rehnquist will long be remembered.
