The Rehnquist Supreme Court Signed.

CLARENCE THOMAS, William Rehnquist.

Item Number: 47015

Rehnquist Supreme Court oversized color photograph signed by all nine justices. Group portrait of the Rehnquist Court taken on the occasion of the investiture of Clarence Thomas. Signed on the mat below by Clarence Thomas, William Rehnquist, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Harry A. Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, Byron R. White, Sandra Day O’Connor, and David H. Souter. The photograph measures 13.5 inches by 10.5 inches. The entire framed piece measures 21.5 inches by 17.5 inches.

The Rehnquist Court refers to the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 to 2005, when William Rehnquist served as Chief Justice of the United States. Rehnquist succeeded Warren Burger as Chief Justice after the latter's retirement, and Rehnquist served as Chief Justice until his death in 2005, at which point John Roberts was nominated and confirmed as Rehnquist's replacement. The Rehnquist Court is generally considered to be more conservative than the preceding Burger Court and Warren Court. According to Jeffrey Rosen, Rehnquist combined an amiable nature with great organizational skill, and he "led a Court that put the brakes on some of the excesses of the Earl Warren era while keeping pace with the sentiments of a majority of the country." Biographer John Jenkins argued that Rehnquist politicized the Supreme Court and moved the court and the country to the right. Through its rulings, the Rehnquist Court often promoted a policy of New Federalism in which more power was given to the states at the expense of the federal government. The Rehnquist Court was also notable for its stability, as the same nine justices served together from 1994 to 2005, the longest such stretch in Supreme Court history.