Academic

A relatively small portion of Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist’s personal papers were released to the public on Monday. The New York Times reports:

The papers released Monday are a small part of a collection of documents donated to the Hoover Institution at Stanford University after Chief Justice Rehnquist?s death in 2005. The Rehnquist family will release court materials covering only the years from which no justices remain alive. Justice Stevens, the court?s longest-serving member, joined the court in 1975. Additional materials, including personal correspondence and other writings, will be released next year.

My favorite part was an interchange between then Justice Rehnquist and Chief Justice Burger:

In 1973, he [Rehnquist] complained to the chief justice about the justices? dining room. ?Ours combines,? Justice Rehnquist wrote, ?to a degree that might be thought impossible, baronial elegance with dreariness. Might there be some possibility of using the new Chippendale table??

Chief Justice Burger?s response: ?You should have seen it in 1969.?