Rehnquist Praises Jackson on Nuremberg

WASHINGTON (AP) - Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist on Monday praised a Supreme Court justice of a half-century ago for his commitment to "intellectual integrity" as chief prosecutor in the Nuremberg trials of accused war criminals.

Rehnquist made his remarks at the annual meeting of the American Law Institute, two days before the court-martial of Army Spc. Jeremy Sivits, the first soldier to stand trial for allegations of abuse of Iraqi inmates at Abu Ghraib prison.

Justice Robert Jackson accepted President Truman's invitation in 1945 to prosecute 22 German defendants accused of charges that included conducting harmful medical experiments on humans. Many of the Nazi defendants argued they were following orders from their superiors.

Jackson's move, seen as extraordinary since the justice was acting as an advocate rather than a judge, was criticized by then-Chief Justice Harlan Stone as taking part in a "high-grade lynching party." Twelve of the war crimes defendants were later sentenced to death and three were sent to prison for life. The others were acquitted or served shorter prison sentences.

Rehnquist Praises Jackson on Nuremberg....

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p.s.: Ohio Groups Question Justice's Trip on Utility Jet....

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p.p.s.We would also make clear that we have no purpose to incriminate the whole German people. We know that the Party was not put in power by a majority of the German vote. We know it came to power by an evil alliance between the most extreme of the Nazi revolutionists, the most unrestrained of the German reactionaries and the most aggressive of the German militarists. If the German populace had willingly accepted the Nazi program, no Storm-troopers would have been needed in the early days of the Party and there would have been no need for concentration camps or the Gestapo, both of which institutions were inaugurated as soon as the Nazis gained control of the German State. Only after these lawless innovations proved successful at home were they taken abroad.

Justice Jackson's Opening Statement for the Prosecution....

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Yeah, tell us about the lawless road to power, Chief Justice. Tell us about the consolidation of power under the Nazis, the abridgement of individual liberties, the suspension of the constitution....

Argh.

going for the last good war we ever fought and comparing
ourselves to the greatest generation

Hey Rehnquist, what would Justice Jackson have to say about Bush's illegal war in Iraq?

(from Justice Jackson's statement at Nuremberg on Aug 12, 1945)

We must make clear to the Germans that the wrong for which their fallen leaders are on trial is not that they lost the war, but that they started it.

And we must not allow ourselves to be drawn into a trial of the causes of the war, for our position is that no grievances or policies will justify resort to aggressive war. It is utterly renounced and condemned as an instrument of policy."

"No one excuses Germany for launching a war of aggression because she had grievances, for we do not intend entering into a trial of whether she had grievances.

If she had real grievances, an attack on the peace of the world was not her remedy.... Launching a war of aggression is a crime and ... no political or economic situation can justify it."

Hearing Rehnquist attempt to frame Jackson's statements as a defense of the Bush administration in some way is worse than hypocritical.

the critter he clerked for and also wrote this little memo for….

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-sunstein17may17,1,7431264.story

From Law Clerk to Chief Justice, He Has Slighted Rights

Rehnquist went on: "To the argument … that a majority may not deprive a minority of its constitutional right, the answer must be made that while this is sound in theory, in the long run it is the majority who will determine what the constitutional rights of the minority are."

Rehnquist's memo concluded that the court should uphold segregation and refuse to protect "special claims" merely "because its members individually are 'liberals' and dislike segregation."

This guy is a judge?

A supreme court justice?

Chief Justice?

:scared:

that came to power through non-democratic means and evil alliances.

Irony is just wasted on Repukelicans.

You might want to bone up on the Nuremburg trials, good buddy. Some of the more creative defenses might have to be dusted off and given another run-through by certain aiders-and-abetters of the corrupt Bush administration's lawlessness.

"The word mercy is going to have a new meaning when we're judged by the children of our slaves."