Word: burger
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...another case, a somewhat petulant opinion by Chief Justice Burger declared that the press had no more free-speech rights than anyone else. The outburst caused many to wonder if Burger did not have a personal peeve against the press. "There is a certain undertone of resentment against the press, a sort of 'Who do they think they are?' feeling among a few Justices," remarked Michigan's Blasi. But he warned against overplaying the court as antipress. Like other First Amendment experts, Blasi points to a little-noticed unanimous decision striking down criminal sanctions against a newspaper...
...decision stirred a new round of hand wringing by press defenders, but the outcome may not be as grim as it looks. Only three Justices (Burger, Rehnquist and White) refused to give the press any kind of special access. Stewart argued that the press could bring along its tools of the trade, including cameras, on public tours. "In theory, the press may not have any more access than the public in Stewart's view," said Stanford's Gunther. "But practically, it does." Three Justices (Stevens, Brennan and Powell) argued that both press and public should have greater access...
...court's tendency to grope for a middle way was clearly revealed in its criminal decisions this year. In contrast to the earlier years of the Burger Court, the Justices last term ruled more often in favor of defendants than of prosecutors. Last week the court ruled that juries must be allowed to weigh almost limitless mitigating circumstances, which may force many states to write more lenient death-penalty statutes. They also protected the accused's right to counsel and jury trial in two decisions, and in another refused to permit a "murder scene" exception to requiring search...
...principal device used by the Burger Court in the past to cut down on the judicial activism of the Warren Court was simply to "close the door"-to keep civil rights or constitutional claims out of federal court. But this year the Justices surprised many court watchers by opening a number of doors. Reversing a 1961 decision written by liberal Justice William O. Douglas, the court ruled that municipalities do not enjoy immunity from civil rights suits. Similarly, the court held that high federal officials could be held personally liable for violating the Constitution, except in those "exceptional situations" where...
That go-slow posture should come as no surprise. Having nibbled away at some of the broad doctrines of the Warren era, the Burger Court seems to have entered a period of cautious weighing and adjusting. Uncertain and divided on a whole range of difficult questions, the court will have plenty of opportunity for fine-line drawing in future terms...