OnTheIssuesLogo

William Rehnquist on Technology

Supreme Court Justice (nominated by Pres. Nixon 1972)

 


Newspapers may not electronically reprint without permission

On intellectual property & distribution of freelance material: As a district court judge in 1997, Sotomayor heard a case brought by a group of freelance journalists who asserted that various news organizations, including the New York Times, violated copyright laws by reproducing the freelancers' work on electronic databases and archives such as "Lexis/Nexis" without first obtaining their permission. Sotomayor ruled against the freelancers and said that publishers were within their rights as outlined by the 1976 Copyright Act. The appellate court reversed Sotomayor's decision, siding with the freelancers, and the Supreme Court upheld the appellate decision (therefore rejecting Sotomayor's original ruling). Justices Stevens and Breyer dissented, taking Sotomayor's position. (Tasini vs. New York Times, 1997)
Source: CNN coverage of upcoming Sotomayor hearings , Aug 1, 2009

Congress can make laws restricting salacious "signal bleed"

Justice Breyer found himself in dissent when the Court struck down a law aimed at preventing sexually explicit channels, like the Playboy Channel, having their visual or audio signal intruding ("bleeding") into homes of viewers who had not subscribed to such salacious stuff. Signal bleed, as it is called, was obviously a serious problem for parents concerned about their children.

The majority invalidated the law on First Amendment grounds [because] the same result could have been achieved through less intrusive methods.

But to Justice Breyer, these were technical issues calling for judicial modesty and deference to Congress. Reaching across the usual philosophical lines, Justice Breyer authored the main dissenting opinion in the case, joined by Scalia, Rehnquist, and O'Connor. Breyer expressed the need for deference to Congress's judgment in seeking to shield children from unwanted adult-programming signals. To Justice Breyer, Congress knows best.

Source: First Among Equals, by Kenneth Starr, p. 38-39 , Oct 10, 2002

  • Click here for definitions & background information on Technology.
  • Click here for a profile of William Rehnquist.
  • Wiki Profile of William Rehnquist.
  • Click here for VoteMatch responses by William Rehnquist.
  • Click here for AmericansElect responses by William Rehnquist.
  • Click here for all excerpts for William Rehnquist.
Other Justices on Technology: William Rehnquist on other issues:
Samuel Alito(since 2006)
Stephen Breyer(since 1994)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg(since 1993)
Elena Kagan(since 2010)
Anthony Kennedy(since 1988)
John Roberts(since 2005)
Sonia Sotomayor(since 2009)
Clarence Thomas(since 1991)

Former Justices:
Merrick Garland(nominated 2016)
Antonin Scalia(1986-2016)
John Paul Stevens(1975-2010)
David Souter(1990-2009)
Sandra Day O'Connor(1981-2006)
William Rehnquist(1975-2005)

Party Platforms:
Democratic Platform
Green Platform
Libertarian Platform
Natural Law Platform
Reform Platform
Republican Platform
Tea Platform
Abortion
Budget/Economy
Civil Rights
Corporations
Crime
Drugs
Education
Energy/Oil
Environment
Families/Children
Foreign Policy
Free Trade
Govt. Reform
Gun Control
Health Care
Homeland Security
Immigration
Infrastructure/Technology
Jobs
Principles/Values
Social Security
Tax Reform
War/Iraq/Mideast
Welfare/Poverty





Page last updated: Feb 02, 2020