Justice Byron White was urged in 1986 by then-Chief Justice Warren Burger to include stronger anti-gay language in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision Bowers v. Hardwick-a request White rejected.
The May 13, 1986 memorandum, marked by Burger as personal, was included among White’s papers, which opened to the public for the first time Monday. White, who died April 15, 2002, dictated that his papers, lodged with the Library of Congress, go public 10 years after his death.