1975 Term Summary and Analysis

Burger went to New York to visit Douglas on July 24. He had decided that Douglas had to resign for the good of the Court. Too many cases were being held over and there was also a backlog. Douglas and his wife spent the summer at Goose Prairie. In September, he appeared in Yakima to hear an emergency request. Douglas issued the stay the attorneys had sought after rambling on a bit about federalism. The ploy failed, as the press portrayed Douglas as incapacitated, and his wife called friends to try to talk him into resigning. Charles Reich traveled to Goose Prairie with this goal in mind. Douglas countered the arguments offered for him to resign. He couldn't read, so none of the cert petitions were worked on, but he returned to Washington on September 27 to see if he could handle the...