Rehnquist Lies In State

William H. Rehnquist's casket was carried up the steps of the Supreme Court Tuesday by former clerks including John Roberts, the man nominated to succeed him as chief justice. Official Washington began paying its last respects at the court to the nation's 16th chief justice.

Roberts and the seven other pallbearers bore the flag-draped casket up some 40 steps of the high court to the Great Hall, where busts of the former chief justices are displayed in niches and on marble pedestals along the walls.

The doors to the court chamber, where Rehnquist had served for 33 years, were open at the east end of the hall.

"Rest here now," a Lutheran minister said softly, after the flag-draped coffin was placed on a platform that once held Abraham Lincoln's casket, reports CBS News Correspondent Barry Bagnato.

Lining the steps to greet the casket were six justices, including Sandra Day O'Connor, who was in tears as the casket passed by. She announced her plans to retire in July, resulting in President Bush's nomination of Roberts to replace her. Mr. Bush said Monday he would nominate Roberts to be chief justice instead.

Absent were Justices Anthony M. Kennedy and David Souter.

Two sprays of flowers and a large portrait of the chief justice were on display.

After the brief ceremony, a long line of people formed outside the court and people began walking inside past the coffin of the chief justice, who died Saturday night.

Public viewing was to take place until 10 p.m. on Tuesday and from 10 a.m. until noon Wednesday.

On Wednesday, funeral services will be at 2 p.m. at St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington, open to friends and family.

Burial at Arlington National Cemetery will be private.

The bodies of Rehnquist's two immediate predecessors, Warren E. Burger and Earl Warren, also are buried at Arlington. Burger and Warren lay in repose in the Supreme Court Building before their services.

As chief justice, Rehnquist is entitled to a state-sponsored official funeral, a ceremony that includes a 19-gun salute, four ruffles and flourishes from drums and bugles, and the last 32 bars of the John Philip Sousa march "Stars and Stripes Forever" among other military honors.

On Monday, Roberts called Rehnquist "a man I deeply respect and admire, a man who has been very kind to me for 25 years."

The tribute came as Roberts joined President Bush in the Oval Office where the president announced he had chosen the former Rehnquist law clerk to be the next chief justice.

"President Bush and Mrs. Bush are deeply saddened by the news" of Rehnquist's death, said White House counselor Dan Bartlett. "It's a tremendous loss for our nation."

Rehnquist's legacy was noted by both Republicans and Democrats.

"Chief Justice Rehnquist's death marks the passing of a great American," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Judiciary Committee. "For more than three decades he left a deep imprint on American law. It has been a profound experience to know him personally."

"Chief Justice Rehnquist served this country with the greatest distinction," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. "I respected his leadership of the federal judiciary and his strong commitment to the integrity and independence of the courts."

The chief justice, said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., "served his country with honor, dignity and distinction for over 30 years... He was grounded in his beliefs and was a staunch defender of an independent judiciary. People of all philosophies and viewpoints greatly respected Justice Rehnquist and will miss him."

The future Supreme Court judge grew up in Milwaukee, attended Stanford and Harvard, and moved to Phoenix in 1953 to work for the firm, Evan, Hull, Kitchel and Jenckes.

He said in a 2001 interview with The Arizona Republic that he was drawn to Phoenix because of the weather and a desire to live in a small city. He eventually joined with another Phoenix lawyer, James Powers, to form a law firm.

"He was obviously bright, a good lawyer, and served his clients well. When it got to be 5 p.m., he closed his law books and went home," Powers said of his former partner. "He didn't fuss over things."

Powers said even in those days, Rehnquist was conservative.

In 1957, Rehnquist gave a speech to the Maricopa Young Republican League, criticizing what he saw as the liberal activism of the court.

And in 1964, he opposed, as a private citizen, a proposal that Phoenix pass an ordinance requiring local restaurants and other businesses to serve people of all races and religions.

He told the City Council at the time that he did not believe individual freedom should be sacrificed. Rehnquist later said he and others were opposed to too much regulation for private business but eventually saw civil rights laws were good for the country.

Rehnquist also served as a speechwriter in 1964 for Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee for president that year.

Five years later, he moved to Washington to work as an assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, and in 1971, Rehnquist was tapped for the Supreme Court by President Richard Nixon.