Justice Marshall Opposes Hearing Drug Dealer and Incest Appeals

Thurgood Marshall, one of the most liberal justices on the Supreme Court, says he never votes for the court to hear the appeals of convicted drug dealers, a published report said Monday.

“If it’s a dope case, I won’t even read the petition,” Marshall, 79, said in the fall 1987 issue of Life magazine. “I ain’t giving no break to no drug dealer. I won’t handle incest cases, either. Disgusting.”

Marshall’s comments appeared in a behind-the-scenes look at the nation’s highest court in an issue of the magazine devoted to the 200th anniversary of the Constitution.

The eight sitting justices (Lewis F. Powell Jr. retired in June, after 15 years on the court, and has not yet been replaced) gave Life glimpses into their lives on the bench.

Soon after Sandra Day O’Connor, 57, became the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court, she started a morning exercise class for women staff members, the magazine said.

Justice Byron White, 70, a former all-American football player from the University of Colorado, said that practicing his putt in his office is therapeutic. “What else can you think about when you play golf but Supreme Court decisions?” he asked.

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, 62, is an avid amateur painter who once missed a State of the Union address to attend an art class. He is the top-seeded player when court employees hit the tennis court and often challenges his law clerks, the magazine said.

Harry A. Blackmun, 78, told Life that, for relaxation, he sometimes pulls weeds from two atrium gardens at the Supreme Court building.