Sunday, Sept. 4, 2005 Just when you thought things could not get any more weird, Chief Justice William Rehnquist dies at the age of 80. A 1972* appointee of Richard Nixon, Rehnquist was promoted to chief justice in 1986 by Ronald Reagan. So to lose his vote on the court is not exactly to lose a friend of civil liberties or an egalitarian system. We will hear in the media how he was an advocate of "state's rights" and a "strict constructionist" who believed that the only rights Americans had were those specifically outlined in the Constitution (there are not many, and despite this purported support, and in many respects they have eroded considerably under the Chief Justice's term -- particularly since the passage of the Patriot Act, as well as much restrictive legislation that attempts to regulate the Internet). State's rights means Rehnquist felt that the federal government should leave many decisions to the states, and essentially not oversee the judicial process in ways some would say are invasive. In other words, this limits federal authority, but generally this is in situations where the federal government is actually in a position to protect people from inconsistencies and local yahoos. Consistent with these positions, Rehnquist was one of two justices who voted against Roe v. Wade, which protects a woman's right to obtain a safe, legal abortion. He was part of the slim 5-4 majority that put George W. Bush into office in 2000. But Rehnquist was something of a true conservative, that is, someone capable of a modicum of restraint, rather unlike the people now in control of the government. Though they are called neoconservatives, their politics are genuinely extreme, entirely centered on business interests, and often bolstered by a massive, emotionally-driven grassroots fundamentalist religious movement. So it will be interesting to see what names arise; probably, two new appointees, because it's generally considered better to appoint a new chief justice from outside the court (though this was not the case with Rehnquist). And also because if one is elevated from the current justices, that will create three senate confirmation hearings: one for the promoted chief, one for his or her replacement as an associate justice, and one for the associate justice to replace Sandra Day O'Connor, who announced her retirement in the spring. This Wikipedia entry looks pretty good, though it does not detail the shenanigans within the Nixon administration that came with his appointment in 1971. Note that Rehnquist was a mid-level official in the Department of Justice when he was appointed justice by Nixon. I'll have more on this when my friend Steve Bergstein wakes up and I can shake him down for some judicial history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Rehnquist Rehnquist was born Oct. 1, 1924, a Libra. With his death, we see yet another advance effect of next month's solar eclipse in Libra, which occurs just two days after what would have been the late Chief Justice's 81st birthday. He was born with the Sun high in the sky, holding the 10th house close to the MC -- an indicator of an affinity for government, and wide public recognition. He had Jupiter in Sagittarius rising to within one degree. This is to say, his ascendant is 13 Sagg 54 and Jupiter is at 14 Sagg 27. Sagittarius is considered the sign of the higher courts (Libra rules the lower courts) and Jupiter is the planet of scholarship and justice. This is the aspect that says "Chief Justice." The duration of his term and the impact of his decisions and influence can be seen in the presence of the Great Attractor, a massive, intergalactic gravitational point at exactly 14 degrees Sagg and 2 arc minutes. This point often serves to create polarity: some people like you a lot, some don't like you very much, and there's not a heck of a lot they can do about it. Indeed, he was one of those people who even his detractors had to admit had some positive points, including a biting, irreverent sense of humor, an informal personal style, and being a flaming liberal as contrasted with the current administration. He had Chiron in the 4th house trine the ascendant and trine Jupiter, as part of a grand trine with Venus, Neptune and the North Node in Leo. At the time of his death, trans-Neptunian planet Quaoar, which addresses family patterns, was exactly in his ascendant. --- * Confirmed by the Senate by a 68–26 vote on December 10, 1971, Rehnquist took his seat as an Associate Justice on January 7, 1972.