Name—Lewis F. Powell
Date of death—Tuesday at his home in Richmond, Va.
Age—90
Cause of death—Pneumonia. Died in his sleep at 4:30 a.m., the Supreme Court said in a statement.
Background—Powell was a retired Supreme Court justice. He was known as someone who did not actively seek an appointment to the Supreme Court. But President Richard Nixon appointed him and Powell agreed to serve. He left a big footprint because he was the deciding voice in several 5–4 votes in which he was pivotal for the majority.
Best-known cases in which he was pivotal for the majority in 5–4 votes—That consenting adults do not enjoy a constitutional right to private homosexual conduct. (Powell said after his retirement that he "probably made a mistake" with his vote in the 1986 Georgia sodomy case.) That medical school applicant Allan Bakke suffered unlawful discrimination because he was white. That presidents enjoy "absolute immunity" from being sued for monetary damages if their misconduct in office was within their official duties. (That decision was handed down during the Nixon administration.)
More background—He retired from the court in 1987 but maintained his office for 10 more years. Because his health was poor recently, he closed his Supreme Court office
|
about 18 months prior to his death.
Quotation—President Clinton said: Powell "approached each case without an ideological agenda, carefully applying the Constitution, the law and Supreme Court precedent regardless of his own personal views. His opinions were a model of balance and judiciousness."
Quotation—John C. Jeffries, his biographer and former law clerk, said: "He was a traditional lawyer … he reasoned from the bottom up. He developed a habit of listening and tried to make up his mind slowly."
His appearance—Justice Powell was slight and bespectacled.
His legacy opinion—The Bakke case, a decision that upheld the concept of affirmative action while limiting its scope—a delicate but so-far durable balance.
More background—When President Nixon nominated him to the court, Powell had a reputation as a conservative. When he joined the court in 1972, it was ideologically divided. He served for 15 years on the court. Because the court was ideologically divided during much of that time, his nonideological agenda on several occasions made him the key vote in close decisions. He never closely aligned with exclusively conservative or liberal views during his years on the court.
|
Exercise 13.12
(24.0K)
2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education