He did not emerge as a strong intellectual force on the court, but sought to improve the administration of the federal judiciary. According to President Nixon's memoirs, he had asked Justice Burger in the spring of 1970 to be prepared to run for president in 1972 if the political repercussions of the Cambodia invasion were too negative for him to endure. Burger voted with the majority in the court’s landmark 1973 decision (Roe v. Wade) that established women’s constitutional right to have abortions. He also helped establish the National Center for State Courts and the Supreme Court Historical Society. Graetz, Michael J., and Linda Greenhouse, eds. After he was elected, President Eisenhower appointed Burger as the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Division of the Justice Department. Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital v. Mercury Constr. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. [5] He also served as president of the St. Paul’s Council on Human Relations, which considered ways to improve the relationship between the city's police department and its minority residents.[5]. The Court issued a unanimous ruling, Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971) supporting busing to reduce de facto racial segregation in schools. Artistic depictions of United States currency, Standing to sue for executive action alleged to promote racial discrimination by third parties, Search and seizure, "good faith" exception to exclusionary rule, Assignment of royalties under the Copyright Act, Effective assistance of counsel in appeals in criminal cases, Selection of jurors in death penalty cases, Long Island is an extension of the mainland and the bordering sounds are therefore under state regulatory control, Right of the accused asserting insanity to a state-appointed psychiatrist, Arbitration clauses must be enforced even if bifurcated and inefficient proceedings result, Residency requirements for membership in the state bar, Due process right of public employees to be heard before termination, Compelled surgical intrusion into an individual's body for, School sponsorship of voluntary religious observances, Civil liability for conducting warrantless wiretaps, Using federal funds to pay teachers in parochial schools under the, Equal protection for the mentally disabled, Constitutionality of body cavity searches at the border under the, Prosecutors must disclose information useful for impeaching government witnesses under, Constitutionality of public aid paid directly to students of Christian colleges, Race discrimination in selecting grand juries, Appellate courts may make the finding required by. Burger retired on September 26, 1986, in part to lead the campaign to mark the 1987 bicentennial of the United States Constitution, at which time he commissioned the construction of the Constitution Bicentennial Monument (The National Monument to the U.S. Constitution). Notable cases from the Burger Court include: New York Times v. United States (freedom of the press), Roe v. Wade (abortion), United States v. Burger pointed out that the famous legal author William Blackstone had written that sodomy was a "'crime against nature'... of 'deeper malignity than rape', a heinous act 'the very mention of which is a disgrace to human nature' and 'a crime not fit to be named'". [23] In particular, Associate Justice Potter Stewart, who had been considered a candidate to succeed Warren as chief justice, was so discontented with Burger that he became the primary source for Woodward and Armstrong when they wrote The Brethren. Warren E. Burger, in full Warren Earl Burger, (born Sept. 17, 1907, St. Paul, Minn., U.S.—died June 25, 1995, Washington, D.C.), 15th chief justice of the United States (1969–86).

Often described as a “transitional” court, the Burger Court bridged the more liberal Warren Court with the more conservative Rehnquist Court that followed. Marquette Nat. [15] That decision was overturned in 2003 by the decision in Lawrence v. Texas, which sought relief against a Texas law, which sanctioned heterosexual sodomy but criminalized it between homosexuals.[16]. Burger would cause the case to be delayed for over twenty months although there had been five votes to affirm the appeals court's finding of unconstitutionality after the case had been first argued: Brennan, Marshall, Blackmun, Powell, and Stevens. …replaced him with the conservative Warren Burger. Burger’s generally conservative approach during his 13-year service (1956–69) on the nation’s second highest court commended him to President Richard M. Nixon, who in 1969 named Burger to succeed Earl Warren as chief justice of the Supreme Court.

In Harris v. New York One of the most famous of the Court’s rulings involving the conflict between religious freedom and state public schools came under Chief Justice Burger in 1972. Burger had first caught Nixon's eye through a letter of support the former sent to Nixon during the 1952 Fund crisis,[8] and then again 15 years later when the magazine U.S. News and World Report had reprinted a 1967 speech that Burger had given at Ripon College.


[5] He attended John A. Johnson High School, where he was president of the student council. His service terminated on June 23, 1969, due to his elevation to the Supreme Court. However, some detractors thought his emphasis on the mechanics of the judicial system trivialized the office of chief justice. In a speech given in front of the American Bar Association, Justice Burger lamented the state of the justice system in 1984, "Our system is too costly, too painful, too destructive, too inefficient for a truly civilized people. For the journalist, see, Warren E. Burger, Conference on Supreme Court Advocacy, 33 Catholic U. L.Rev. He later abandoned Roe v. Wade in Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Burger is often cited as one of the foundational proponents of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), particularly in its ability to ameliorate an overloaded justice system. In 1969, President Richard Nixon nominated Burger to succeed Chief Justice Earl Warren, and Burger won Senate confirmation.

He married Elvera Stromberg in 1933. Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Corp. Mt. [citation needed] Woodward and Armstrong's sources indicated that some of the other justices were annoyed by Burger's practice of switching his vote in conference or simply not announcing his vote so that he could control opinion assignments.

Chief Justice Burger replaced Earl Warren in 1969 and retired from the bench in 1986 (following the 1985 October Term). Presentation of perjured testimony at a criminal trial; Religious headwear for military personnel under the, Peremptory challenge, racial discrimination, Reimposing the death penalty after the underlying murder conviction has been vacated, Naked-eye aerial observation of defendant's backyard by police does not violate the, Aerial photography of industrial facilities by the, Price controls on alcoholic beverages and the, Requiring "informed consent" before an abortion, "Hostile work environment" as sexual harassment, Sodomy and substantive due process; overruled by, Statements made in civil commitment proceedings for sex offenders are not subject to the, Censorship of obscene speech at a school assembly, This page was last edited on 17 July 2020, at 22:40.

In Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha (1983), he held for the majority that the US Congress could not reserve a legislative veto over executive branch actions. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Burger graduated from the St. Paul College of Law in 1931.

Burger retired from the Supreme Court in 1986 to devote himself full-time to the chairmanship of the commission planning the bicentennial celebration of the U.S. constitution (1987). Unanimous decision on when a taxpayer sells or disposes of property encumbered by a nonrecourse obligation exceeding the fair market value of the property sold, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue may require him to include in the “amount realized” the outstanding amount of the obligation; the fair market value of the property is irrelevant to this calculation.
Bank of Minneapolis v. First of Omaha Service Corp. Givhan v. Western Line Consolidated School District, Washington v. Confederated Bands and Tribes of the Yakima Indian Nation, National Labor Relations Board v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago, New York City Transit Authority v. Beazer, Greenholtz v. Inmates of the Nebraska Penal and Correctional Complex, Personnel Administrator of Massachusetts v. Feeney, Village of Schaumburg v. Citizens for a Better Environment, Consolidated Edison Co. v. Public Service Commission, Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission, Industrial Union Department v. American Petroleum Institute. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. He had been discharged from his position on loyalty grounds.