Rehnquist body lies in state
Borne by a plain black hearse, the body of Chief Justice William Rehnquist, 80, arrived at the U.S. Supreme Court building in an unvarnished pine box that was slowly carried to the court's Upper Great Hall by pallbearers that included his former clerk, John Roberts, the man now nominated to replace his mentor.
Rehnquist, who served on the court 33 years–the last 19 as its chief, died Saturday night after battling thyroid cancer for nearly a year. His body, in a closed casket, will lie in repose again today from 10 a.m. to noon. The late chief justice's funeral, which President Bush will attend, is scheduled for 2 p.m. at St. Matthew's Cathedral, a storied church in downtown Washington that was the site of President John F. Kennedy's funeral in 1963. Rehnquist is to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
The arrival of Rehnquist's body at the court on a brilliant Washington morning was marked by details simple and profound: The chief justice's characteristic unpretentiousness reflected in his simple, flag-draped casket; the line of somber uniformed Supreme Court honor guards; the tears shed by two of his colleagues, Associate Justices Clarence Thomas and Sandra Day O'Connor, who announced her retirement in July; the double columns of Rehnquist's former law clerks, all in dark suits, who lined the court steps to honor him.
But most striking was the presence of Roberts, a D.C. Circuit Court judge, at the side of the chief justice's casket on the day his own Senate confirmation hearings to replace O'Connor were scheduled to begin. In a whirlwind few days since Rehnquist's death, the president had tapped Roberts to replace Rehnquist as chief justice instead of O'Connor, the Senate had postponed Roberts's confirmation hearings until next Monday, and the political climate became even more heated with the opening of a second court vacancy.
There was an almost eerie feeling of succession that even those in line sensed.
"This is a historic moment–the passing of the torch from one higly influential Supreme Court chief justice to another," said Scott Schroeder of Eau Claire, Wis., who, with his wife, Cinda, was among a few hundred tourists and admirers lined up outside the court waiting to pay their respects. Peter Pacheco of Orlando, Fla., was also in line with his two children. "I explained to them that this was the most powerful judge in the country, and they were interested in coming," he said. "It's good to educate the young."
Wendy Long of the conservative Judicial Confirmation Network said in at statement that the chief justice "bore a great deal of physical suffering with exemplary grace.
"Fittingly, he died 'with his boots on'–on the eve of a new term on the court. Big boots to fill."
advertisement
