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Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died Saturday evening at the age
of 80. | |
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who quietly advanced the
conservative ideology of the
U.S. Supreme Court under his leadership, died Saturday evening. He was 80.
The justice, diagnosed with thyroid
cancer, had a tracheotomy and received
chemotherapy and radiation as part of his treatment.
Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said Rehnquist had "continued to
perform his duties on the court until a precipitous decline in his health
the last couple of days."
Then with his three children beside him, the justice died at his
suburban Arlington, Virginia, home, the court spokeswoman said.
Rehnquist had become increasingly frail after his cancer diagnosis last
October, but his office had refused to characterize the seriousness of his
illness.
Meanwhile, he had worked from home for several months and missed oral
arguments in a number of cases.
"America will honor his memory," President Bush said Sunday. He praised
Rehnquist as "a man of character and dedication " who "led the judicial branch of
government with tremendous wisdom and skill."
Bush said he would move quickly to choose a "highly qualified"
candidate as his replacement on the Supreme Court.
Hours after leaving the hospital in July following treatment for fever,
he made a decree: "I want to put to rest the speculation and unfounded
rumors of my imminent retirement," he said in a written statement. "I am
not about to announce my retirement. I will continue to perform my duties
as chief justice as long as my health permits." He went to work the next
day.
President Nixon appointed Rehnquist to the Supreme Court in 1972, and
in 1986, President Reagan tapped him as chief justice to replace Warren
Burger.
(Agencies) |
上周六（9月3日）晚，美國最高法院首席法官威廉·倫奎斯特在家中去世，享年80歲。他在任期間，默默推動了保守主義思想對美國最高法院的影響。
首席法官威廉被診斷出患有甲狀腺癌，他先后接受了氣管切開術、化療和放射性治療。
美國最高法院女發言人凱西·阿爾貝格說倫奎斯特“一直帶病堅持法院的工作，直到最后幾天他的健康狀況急劇惡化為止”。
美國最高法院發言人還說，倫奎斯特在位于弗吉尼亞北部小鎮阿靈頓市郊的家中病逝時，他的三個孩子都陪伴在他身邊。
自從去年10月被診斷出患有甲狀腺癌后，倫奎斯特變得越來越虛弱，但他所在的辦公室拒絕透露他的病情到底有多嚴重。
在此期間的幾個月內他不得不在家工作，錯過了幾個案件的口頭辯論。
美國總統布什上周日發表講話說：“美國人民將以他為榮”，他稱贊倫奎斯特是“一個有個性的、無私奉獻的人”，他“憑借自己杰出的智慧和才能領導整個國家的司法部門”。
布什總統表示他將盡快挑選一位“完全能勝任的”繼任者，填補最高法院的空缺。
今年七月，因發燒而住院接受治療的倫奎斯特，在出院幾小時后，就在一份書面聲明中公開宣布：“我想要制止那些有關我即將退休的猜測和沒有根據的傳言。我還不會宣布退休，只要我的健康狀況還允許，我將繼續堅守崗位，行使自己首席法官的職責。”第二天，他就重新回到工作崗位繼續工作了。
1972年，尼克松總統提名倫奎斯特出任最高法院法官。1986年，由里根總統提名，他接替沃倫·伯格出任首席大法官至今。
（中國日報網站 薛曉文譯） |
Updated: 2005-09-06 09:09
