Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 27, 1990 TAG: 9007270682
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
In a rare public interview, Marshall also suggested the appointment of David Souter to the high court may have been a political move dictated by conservative White House Chief of Staff John Sununu.
Asked today if he was offended by Marshall's remarks, Souter responded: "I wouldn't care to say."
In an interview broadcast Thursday on ABC's "Primetime Live," Marshall also said he would vote against Bush if he came up for election but felt constrained not to say too much bad about the president.
"It's said that if you can't say something good about a dead person, don't say it," Marshall said of Bush. "Well, I consider him dead."
Marshall, 82, a staunch liberal ally of Brennan on the high court, has been outspoken in the past about another Republican president, Ronald Reagan.
In a televised interview in 1987, Marshall said Reagan's civil rights record "ranks at the bottom" among U.S. presidents.
In the interview conducted Wednesday in Marshall's office in the Supreme Court building, the justice said he expects to be voting in the minority a lot more because of Brennan's departure.
"There's nobody here that can persuade the way Brennan can persuade," Marshall said. "Brennan will sit down and talk to you and show you where you're wrong. Well, there's nobody with that power on the court today. I say that Brennan cannot be replaced."
"If you're wrong, he'll - in the most gentle language - let you down. There's not a vicious bone in his body. He's a real . . . Bill's a gentleman," Marshall said.
He said the Souter appointment might be the work of Sununu, who as governor of New Hampshire put Souter on that state's Supreme Court.
Marshall said that when Souter's appointment was announced on television, he turned to his wife and said, "Have I ever heard of this man?"
He said he then called Brennan's home to find out whether he knew Souter. Marshall said Brennan's wife answered the phone and said Brennan "never heard of him either."
Asked by interviewer Sam Donaldson why he thought Bush picked Souter, Marshall replied, "I don't have the slightest idea. Never heard of him. I just don't understand what he [Bush] is doing. . . . This last appointment is the epitome of what he's been doing. I think somebody's calling his shots."
Souter, asked by a reporter whether he had heard of Marshall, said: "I certainly have heard. I trust there is no one in the United States who has not heard of Justice Marshall."
Asked about his feelings toward Bush, Marshall said, "If he came up for election, I'd vote against him."
Asked if he believes Bush is running for re-election, the justice said, "I don't think he's ever stopped."
by CNB