“Something happens to a man when he puts on a judicial robe, and I think it ought to. The change is very great and requires psychological change within a man to get into an attitude of deciding other people’s controversies, instead of waging them. It really calls for quite a changed attitude. Some never make it - and I am not sure I have.”
–Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson
Oliver Wendell Holmes, who served the United States Supreme Court for almost 30 years, died in 1935. He called death “an old friend.” The last words he wished to say were “Have faith and pursue the unknown end.” At the age of ninety-four, he looked at the machinery that would prolong his life and said, “Lot of tomfoolery.”
Holmes did not die in office. Justices have a lifetime appointment and it is surprising how few of our Supreme Court jurists had the final mortal verdict placed on them while still on the bench.
Justice Antonin Scalia, 79, went for a little respite at the Cibolo Creek Ranch, a resort in the Big Bend region south of Marfa, TX. Scalia arrived at the 30,000-acre ranch a luxury hunting lodge, as a guest of others. He enjoyed a good meal and displayed his wit and charm. He went to bed and passed quietly, and was found by the housekeeping staff the next day.
Justice Scalia was only the fourth Supreme Court Justice to die in office from its establishment in 1789. This is remarkable considering life tenure in days of simple medical care and that the first death in office was in the 1950s. Justices do have the option of retirement or resignation or they can be impeached, although no impeachments have ever occurred.
The Supreme Court Great Hall was Justice Scalia’s place of repose. After a private service, the public was invited in to pass by the flag draped closed casket placed on the “Lincoln catafalque” (the same casket bier that bore the remains of Lincoln, Kennedy and many others).
The Funeral Mass, co-celebrated by Donald Cardinal Wuerl, the Washington Archbishop and Justice Scalia’s son Rev. Fr. Paul Scalia, was held at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. His place of burial is unknown.
Fred M. Vinson was the first Supreme Court Justice to die in office. This Kentuckian served in all three branches of government. He came from a political family and served as a United States Congressman from 1924-1928, then won again in 1930 and served until 1937. He went on to serve on the United States Court of Appeals; He served as Director of the Office of Economic Stabilization and several other economic posts. President Truman, a good friend, named him Secretary of the Treasury where his term from 1945 to 1946 made him an attractive nominee to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He served as Chief Justice from June 2, 1946 until a sudden death September 8, 1953. President Eisenhower and former President Harry Truman attended the funeral at the National Cathedral. Chief Justice Vinson was buried in Pinehill Cemetery in Louisa, KY.
A tribute was given in a statement by a fellow Justice: “Chief Justice Vinson brought to the court the common sense of a country lawyer, the legislative experience of long service in congress, the teaching of several important posts in the executive branch as well as previous judicial experience. He was affable and popular and his sudden passing causes widespread sadness.” The commenting justice was Robert H. Jackson.
Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson was the second high court jurist to die in office. A Pennsylvania farm boy, he went on to apprentice for a law firm, and was able to meet Franklin Delano Roosevelt at an early age. His career blossomed as a lawyer and he went on to several posts in the Roosevelt administration, first in the Treasury Department and then as Assistant Attorney General. He became United States Solicitor General, the government’s chief advocate before the Supreme Court. His articulate and fluent legal writings helped gain him the nomination to the Supreme Court. Justice Jackson will be remembered most for his service as United States Chief of Counsel for the prosecution at Nuremburg where Nazi War Criminals stood trial.
Brown vs. The Board of Education, the landmark school segregation case was the last of the monumental cases for Jackson. He was in and out of the hospital during deliberations, but was present when the decision was handed down.
Jackson died on October 9, 1954 of a myocardial infarction in Washington, DC. His funeral was held at the National Cathedral. A funeral train bore his remains, with all other Justices present, to a second service at St. Luke’s Church and burial near his boyhood home at Maple Grove Cemetery, Frewsburg, NY.
A memorandum regarding Brown vs. The Board of Education from Jackson’s office came to light during the confirmation hearing of another Supreme Court Justice. It was written by then Jackson law clerk, William H. Rehnquist.
Rehnquist was the third Justice to die while still on the bench. After his service as a clerk to Justice Jackson he practiced law in Phoenix, AZ and President Richard Nixon brought him to Washington as an Assistant Attorney General. In 1971, he became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. In 1986, President Reagan nominated him as Chief Justice to fill the role from the retiring Warren Burger. He was confirmed.
In 2004 Rehnquist began treatments for thyroid cancer. Chief Justice Rehnquist administered the oath of office to President George W. Bush in January 2005, but it was obvious he was ill. He died October 3, 2005. Rehnquist was a Lutheran, but his services were at St. Matthews Cathedral in Washington DC, the place of President John F. Kennedy’s funeral. President Bush commented at his funeral, “In every chapter of his life, William Rehnquist stood apart for his powerful intellect and clear convictions.” His pallbearers were his fellow Justices and burial was at Arlington National Cemetery. When Rehnquist ascended to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, a replacement associate justice candidate was nominated and confirmed. His name was Antonin Scalia.
“If you’re going to be a good and faithful judge, you have to resign yourself to the fact that you’re not always going to like the conclusions you reach. If you like them all the time, you’re probably doing something wrong.”
–Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia