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| Stephen Reinhardt, Liberal Lion of Federal Court, Dies at 87 | Stephen Reinhardt, Liberal Lion of Federal Court, Dies at 87 |
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| Stephen Reinhardt, a liberal federal judge from California who was unfazed when the United States Supreme Court reversed his rulings supporting same-sex marriage and doctor-aided suicide, as well as his challenges to late-term abortion, the Pledge of Allegiance and making English the official language, died on Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 87. | Stephen Reinhardt, a liberal federal judge from California who was unfazed when the United States Supreme Court reversed his rulings supporting same-sex marriage and doctor-aided suicide, as well as his challenges to late-term abortion, the Pledge of Allegiance and making English the official language, died on Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 87. |
| The cause was a heart attack that Judge Reinhardt had during an appointment with his dermatologist, a spokesman for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco said. At his death he was still serving on that bench. | The cause was a heart attack that Judge Reinhardt had during an appointment with his dermatologist, a spokesman for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco said. At his death he was still serving on that bench. |
| As the last of President Jimmy Carter’s federal judicial appointees (and one of only five still sitting), Judge Reinhardt made himself an inviting target of conservatives, who lambasted the Ninth Circuit as the most progressive (a label he did his best to redeem) federal jurisdiction. | As the last of President Jimmy Carter’s federal judicial appointees (and one of only five still sitting), Judge Reinhardt made himself an inviting target of conservatives, who lambasted the Ninth Circuit as the most progressive (a label he did his best to redeem) federal jurisdiction. |
| Yes, he acknowledged to The Los Angeles Times, the Supreme Court had, indeed, reversed a disproportionate number of his decisions over nearly four decades, but, he added sportively, issuing principled but unpredictable decisions wasn’t pointless. | Yes, he acknowledged to The Los Angeles Times, the Supreme Court had, indeed, reversed a disproportionate number of his decisions over nearly four decades, but, he added sportively, issuing principled but unpredictable decisions wasn’t pointless. |
| “They can’t catch ’em all,” he said. | “They can’t catch ’em all,” he said. |
| Dean Erwin Chemerinsky of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, wrote in an email that Judge Reinhardt’s “view was to decide cases as he believed the law required, not to predict what the Supreme Court would do.” | Dean Erwin Chemerinsky of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, wrote in an email that Judge Reinhardt’s “view was to decide cases as he believed the law required, not to predict what the Supreme Court would do.” |
| As a justice on the Supreme Court and then as chief justice, William H. Rehnquist, who was appointed in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan, often taunted the Ninth Circuit’s judges for having “a hard time saying ‘no’ to any litigant with a hard-luck story.” | As a justice on the Supreme Court and then as chief justice, William H. Rehnquist, who was appointed in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan, often taunted the Ninth Circuit’s judges for having “a hard time saying ‘no’ to any litigant with a hard-luck story.” |
| The conservative Weekly Standard described Judge Reinhardt as “the liberal bad boy” of the federal bench — “ideological, outlandish and never dull.” | The conservative Weekly Standard described Judge Reinhardt as “the liberal bad boy” of the federal bench — “ideological, outlandish and never dull.” |
| But Judge Reinhardt was no knee-jerk contrarian. And some of his legal rationales, which proved to be less radical than classically liberal, were later sustained by his judicial colleagues. Even doubters of his ideology often praised his scholarship and his conscientiousness. | But Judge Reinhardt was no knee-jerk contrarian. And some of his legal rationales, which proved to be less radical than classically liberal, were later sustained by his judicial colleagues. Even doubters of his ideology often praised his scholarship and his conscientiousness. |
| “I didn’t always agree with him,” his Ninth Circuit colleague Judge N. Randy Smith said in a statement, “but one of my life’s highest honors has been to serve with this legal giant.” | “I didn’t always agree with him,” his Ninth Circuit colleague Judge N. Randy Smith said in a statement, “but one of my life’s highest honors has been to serve with this legal giant.” |
| Heather MacDonald, a senior fellow with the conservative Manhattan Institute and one of Judge Reinhardt’s many former clerks, recalled “his ability to transcend political difference.” | Heather MacDonald, a senior fellow with the conservative Manhattan Institute and one of Judge Reinhardt’s many former clerks, recalled “his ability to transcend political difference.” |
| He “scrutinized every appeal by a criminal defendant with extra care, holding the government to the highest standard of due process,” she said. | He “scrutinized every appeal by a criminal defendant with extra care, holding the government to the highest standard of due process,” she said. |
| Another former law clerk, Hector Villagra, now executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California, recalled a Saturday night when the judge was writing a dissent after the full Ninth Circuit had rejected a death penalty appeal. | Another former law clerk, Hector Villagra, now executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California, recalled a Saturday night when the judge was writing a dissent after the full Ninth Circuit had rejected a death penalty appeal. |
| “He knew it was totally pointless; it wasn’t going to affect the outcome,” Mr. Villagra said in a statement. “But it was the right thing to do, and that’s what mattered. He wanted his voice and his objections heard.” | “He knew it was totally pointless; it wasn’t going to affect the outcome,” Mr. Villagra said in a statement. “But it was the right thing to do, and that’s what mattered. He wanted his voice and his objections heard.” |
| Judge Reinhardt was born Stephen Roy Shapiro on March 27, 1931, in New York City to the former Silvia Handelsman and Samuel Shapiro, a lawyer. | Judge Reinhardt was born Stephen Roy Shapiro on March 27, 1931, in New York City to the former Silvia Handelsman and Samuel Shapiro, a lawyer. |
| After they divorced, his mother dated the writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (who was said to have borrowed some of Stephen’s art supplies to draw “The Little Prince”). He changed his surname in the early 1940s when his mother married Gottfried Reinhardt, the producer, director and playwright who worked on such films as “Two-Faced Woman,” “The Red Badge of Courage” and “Town Without Pity.” | After they divorced, his mother dated the writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (who was said to have borrowed some of Stephen’s art supplies to draw “The Little Prince”). He changed his surname in the early 1940s when his mother married Gottfried Reinhardt, the producer, director and playwright who worked on such films as “Two-Faced Woman,” “The Red Badge of Courage” and “Town Without Pity.” |
| Judge Reinhardt said his empathy for the underdog was inspired by his stepgrandfather Max Reinhardt, a renowned director who as a Jew had fled the Nazis. | |
| Judge Reinhardt earned a bachelor’s degree in government from Pomona College in California in 1951 and graduated from Yale Law School. He served as a first lieutenant in the legal counsel’s office of the Air Force, clerked for a federal judge, practiced entertainment and labor law in California, was a member of the Democratic National Committee from California and served on the Los Angeles Police Commission, until his circuit court appointment in 1980. | Judge Reinhardt earned a bachelor’s degree in government from Pomona College in California in 1951 and graduated from Yale Law School. He served as a first lieutenant in the legal counsel’s office of the Air Force, clerked for a federal judge, practiced entertainment and labor law in California, was a member of the Democratic National Committee from California and served on the Los Angeles Police Commission, until his circuit court appointment in 1980. |
| He is survived by his wife, Ramona Ripston, a retired executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California; three children, Mark, Justin and Dana; and seven grandchildren. | He is survived by his wife, Ramona Ripston, a retired executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California; three children, Mark, Justin and Dana; and seven grandchildren. |
| Over the years, Judge Reinhardt ruled as unconstitutional the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance; a Washington State law banning the procedure that abortion opponents call “partial-birth abortion”; Arizona’s English-only official language law; and a 2008 California ballot referendum, known as Proposition 8, barring same-sex marriage. Each of his rulings was overturned or vacated by the Supreme Court. | Over the years, Judge Reinhardt ruled as unconstitutional the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance; a Washington State law banning the procedure that abortion opponents call “partial-birth abortion”; Arizona’s English-only official language law; and a 2008 California ballot referendum, known as Proposition 8, barring same-sex marriage. Each of his rulings was overturned or vacated by the Supreme Court. |
| (The same-sex marriage case was remanded back to California for further proceedings, and Proposition 8 was ultimately ruled unconstitutional.) | (The same-sex marriage case was remanded back to California for further proceedings, and Proposition 8 was ultimately ruled unconstitutional.) |
| Judge Reinhardt sometimes lamented that he was following a legal precedent even though he disagreed with it. Last year, in an anguished opinion, he declined to halt a deportation that he considered deeply unjust. | Judge Reinhardt sometimes lamented that he was following a legal precedent even though he disagreed with it. Last year, in an anguished opinion, he declined to halt a deportation that he considered deeply unjust. |
| The man being deported, Andres Magana Ortiz, had come to the United States from Mexico 28 years before, when he was 15. He became a successful coffee grower in Hawaii, where he lived with his wife and three children, all United States citizens. (The Ninth Circuit’s jurisdiction includes Hawaii.) | The man being deported, Andres Magana Ortiz, had come to the United States from Mexico 28 years before, when he was 15. He became a successful coffee grower in Hawaii, where he lived with his wife and three children, all United States citizens. (The Ninth Circuit’s jurisdiction includes Hawaii.) |
| Mr. Ortiz had been permitted to remain in the country while he pursued a path to legalization during the administration of President Barack Obama, but that decision was abruptly overturned under the Trump administration, and he was ordered deported. | Mr. Ortiz had been permitted to remain in the country while he pursued a path to legalization during the administration of President Barack Obama, but that decision was abruptly overturned under the Trump administration, and he was ordered deported. |
| “Magana Ortiz and his family are in truth not the only victims,” Judge Reinhardt wrote in deciding that the court lacked the power to prevent his deportation. “Among the others are judges who, forced to participate in such inhumane acts, suffer a loss of dignity and humanity as well. I concur as a judge, but as a citizen I do not.” | “Magana Ortiz and his family are in truth not the only victims,” Judge Reinhardt wrote in deciding that the court lacked the power to prevent his deportation. “Among the others are judges who, forced to participate in such inhumane acts, suffer a loss of dignity and humanity as well. I concur as a judge, but as a citizen I do not.” |