The Nixon Presidential Library’s latest release of tapes last week includes an extraordinary snippet of a phone conversation between President Richard Nixon and Chief Justice Warren Burger that took place in late 1972. The chat touched on the then-pending obscenity case Miller v. California, the simmering issue of school busing, and the health and caliber of other justices.
It begins with Nixon asking Burger casually about Miller, something that is frowned on, to say the least, when a case is still pending. Burger replies, “I don’t know how we’re coming down. I’m coming out hard on it,” which Burger ultimately did, as author of the decision, released the following June. Nixon laughed and said, “I’m a square.” He went on to say that he had read the obscenity cases in connection with “Time v. Hill,” a reference to Time Inc. v. Hill, a First Amendment case he’d argued before the Supreme Court as a private lawyer in 1966.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
