About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

70 Mo. L. Rev. 1037 (2005)
Lifting the Veil: Justice Blackmun's Papers and the Public Perception of the Supreme Court

handle is hein.journals/molr70 and id is 1047 raw text is: Lifting the Veil: Justice Blackmun's Papers and the Public Perception of the Supreme Court Tony Maurol The starting point of any discussion of the public perception of the United States Supreme Court is the likelihood that no public perception ex- ists. By and large, the Supreme Court operates at the very outer edges of pub- lic awareness; for years, polls have indicated that many more Americans know the names of the three Stooges than any three Supreme Court justices.2 The Supreme Court itself appears to prefer its anonymity and keeps it- self out of the public eye - mainly by keeping broadcast cameras and micro- phones out, but also by insisting that it is unlike the other two branches of government in many other ways. One recent example is how little the press and public had been able to learn about Chief Justice William Rehnquist's health status prior to his death. After a terse announcement in October 2004 that he was being treated for thyroid cancer, further updates or details were sparse, leavinf medical experts and others to speculate about the seriousness of his illness. If any president had a similar illness, the public would have been treated to around-the-clock news coverage, with graphs and charts and an array of expert opinions. The public would insist. But we heard hardly a peep about the life and death struggles of the highest judge of the land. The Justices love their privacy. At a purely personal level, they are pleased to be able to tramp around Washington unrecognized, and they do it frequently. The story is often told of Justice Blackmun going outside the court to watch anti-abortion protests, completely unworried that the demonstrators would turn their rage on him; he knew they would not recognize him. When Justice Souter was mugged while jogging at night in 2004, many people in Washington wondered how he could be out like that without any security protection. I asked some of the Supreme Court police about this, and 1. Tony Mauro is Supreme Court Correspondent for Legal Times, American Lawyer Media and law.com. He has covered the Supreme Court for 25 years. He has an undergraduate degree from Rutgers University and a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. The second edition of his book Illustrated Great Decisions of the Supreme Court was published by Congressional Quarterly Press in December 2005. All citations to the Blackmun Papers reference the Harry A. Blackmun Papers on file in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Con- gress, Washington, D.C. 2. See James A. Barnes, GOP Spoiling for a Fight, NAT'L J., July 9, 2005. 3. Press Release Regarding Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, http://www.supremecourtus.gov/publicinfo/press/prl 0-25-04.html.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most