Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 26, 1993 TAG: 9305260052
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Rehnquist's comments followed what a court spokeswoman indicated was an extraordinary meeting of the justices to discuss the papers' release.
Citing the court's "long tradition of confidentiality in its deliberations," Rehnquist said the court was "surprised and disappointed" by the Library of Congress' decision to make public the 173,700 items in the Marshall collection.
Marshall, who retired in 1991, died in January. The library then made his papers available to the public, an action that went largely unnoticed until The Washington Post began reporting their contents Sunday.
The papers include the justices' confidential notes to each other and previously unpublished draft opinions as they worked on rulings.
Rehnquist, speaking for "a majority of the active justices" wrote a letter to Librarian of Congress James H. Billington in which he faulted the library for not consulting with the court or with the Marshall family before releasing the papers.
"Most members of the court recognize that after the passage of a certain amount of time, our papers should be available for historical research," Rehnquist's letter said. "But to release Justice Marshall's papers dealing with deliberations which occurred as recently as two terms ago is something quite different."
The chief justice's letter ended with an unveiled threat: "Unless there is some presently unknown basis for the library's action, we think it is such that future donors of judicial papers will be inclined to look elsewhere for a repository."
Asked if all the justices had met to discuss the release of the Marshall papers, court spokeswoman Toni House said, "That would be a safe assumption."
Library of Congress spokeswoman Jill Brett said Billington was to return from an overseas trip today and "will review documents supporting Justice Marshall's clear intention to have his papers opened after his death."
The library also has been criticized by Washington lawyer William T. Coleman, a longtime friend of Marshall's who spoke for the justice's family.
by CNB