Rehnquist thought [the court] had gone way too far, and in many dissents was working to cut it back. He succeeded, and he began to succeed even before he became chief justice. He gradually cut back federal-court supervision of state prosecutions. [The death penalty ban] was reversed. And the limits upon prosecutors and police were rationalized and relaxed.

This term may be the end of the Rehnquist Court era.

The profession is designed to help the court by making sure that the best possible arguments - not misleading arguments, not arguments that stretch a point, not arguments that hide precedents - but that the best possible arguments are presented, ... That's the business we're in. It's very much like if you were a doctor. Do you only cure people who, when they're cured, will lead their lives as you were going to lead them?

I've gone as far as I can. It's time to turn over the reins.

Even if he is more likely to be a Rehnquist than a Thomas, the downside of him being a Thomas outweighed the upside of him being a Rehnquist,

Justice Rehnquist went to the Supreme Court in 1972, at a time of ascendant judicial activism.