Court Under Burger Foiled Conservative Hopes, Powell Says

Supreme Court Justice Louis F. Powell Jr., reviewing the performance of the high court under Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, said Tuesday that, despite the hopes of Republican presidents who appointed a majority of the justices, “there has been no conservative counterrevolution by the Burger court.”

Speaking at an American Bar Assn. luncheon, Powell said that, “perhaps to the disappointment of the presidents who nominated members of the Burger court,” the court in 17 years under Burger’s leadership did not renounce any of the landmark holdings under former Chief Justice Earl Warren on such issues as racial discrimination and criminals’ rights.

“The boundaries of some” Warren court rulings “were limited, but others have been extended,” Powell said.

Although “the record of the Burger court . . . perhaps has reflected a higher sensitivity to the public interest in law enforcement,” Powell said, “we have not diminished the constitutional protections afforded to those suspected of committing crime.”