William Rehnquist and Civil Rights; Law Clerk Hiring Controversy; Edward Lazarus Interview
(11 Minutes) William Rehnquist and Civil Rights He is the country's highest judge, the man who will preside over the Senate trial of President Clinton if the House of Representatives votes to impeach him. As Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, William Rehnquist would also cast the tie-breaker if a tie vote occurred in the Senate. But most people may not know that Rehnquist also appointed the judge who in turn appointed independent counsel Kenneth Starr and expanded his powers to investigate the Monica Lewinsky scandal, raising questions about a possible conflict of interest. GUEST: Bruce Shapiro, Editor with The Nation magazine as well with Salon magazine. GUEST: Victor Viramontes, Yale University Law student who is participating in a protest at Yale today demanding that the Yale Law School admit more minority students. (19 Minutes) Law Clerk Hiring Controversy Last October 5th, the day of the opening session at the Supreme Court, a coalition of civil rights organizations and legal organizations demonstrated on the front steps of the US supreme Court in DC as part of an intensive campaign to urge Chief Justice William Rehnquist to meet with leaders about increasing the number of minority law clerks hired by the Justices. The protest resulted in the arrest of NAACP President Kweisi Mfume and 18 other activists, as they attempted to deliver resumes of qualified minority law school graduates to the justices. GUEST: Randy Jones, recent president of the National Bar Association. GUEST: Lillian Apodaca, President of the Hispanic National Bar Association. GUEST: Rev. Jamal Bryant, Dir. of the NAACP Youth and College Initiative. GUEST: Victor Viramontes, Yale University Law student. (19 Minutes) Edward Lazarus Interview GUEST: Edward Lazarus, author of the BOOK: CLOSED CHAMBER: AN INSIDE ACCOUNT OF THE SUPREME COURT.
