General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Justice Scalia Makes Epic "Cringeworthy" Blunder In Supreme Court Opinion [View all]former9thward
(31,984 posts)William Douglas, who was a great champion for civil liberties became very senile in his last years. The final straw for his fellow SC members came when he wrote an opinion (a dissent) saying trees had a right to sue the government. At that point the other Justices joined together and agreed not give any decisions on cases where Douglas would be a deciding vote. They decided to wait for him to die or retire.
He finally retired in 1975 and Justice Stevens took his place. But Douglas believed that he could take senior status, and tried to continue serving on the Court. Douglas refused to accept his retirement and tried to participate in the court's cases well into 1976, after Stevens had taken his former seat. Douglas reacted with outrage when, returning to his old chambers, he discovered that his clerks had been reassigned to Stevens, and when he tried to file opinions in cases whose arguments he had heard before his retirement. Chief Justice Warren Burger ordered all justices, clerks, and other staff members to refuse to help Douglas in those efforts. When Douglas tried in March 1976 to hear arguments in a capital-punishment case, (Gregg v. Georgia), the nine sitting justices signed a formal letter informing him that his retirement had ended his official duties on the court.
A sad end to a great career.