It was that "moderate" Burger Court: Chief Justice Warren Burger and Justices Blackmun, Brennan, Douglas, Marshall, Powell, Rehnquist, Stewart and White.
Rehnquist and White dissented from the abortion ruling in Roe v. Wade (1973).
But the whole gang found Kumbaya unanimity in forbidding your state to pass laws to protect you from excessive interest and other forms of usury inflicted on you by credit card companies or other lenders operating from other states. That was in Marquette National Bank of Minneapolis v. First of Omaha Service Corporation (1978).
I wish I were a lawyer, better equipped to survey the Burger Court's various decisions for common themes.
These two cases alone inflicted conflict and chaos on the nation, creating problems as acute today as in the 70s. Arguable rights to poor decisions became cultural norms, and moral calls for discernment and restraint were refuted as busy-body intrusions.
1 comment:
Rehnquist I can understand, but Marshall and Douglas? That surprises me.
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