Rehnquist’s health remains a mystery News
Rehnquist’s health remains a mystery

[JURIST] The health of Chief Justice William Rehnquist remains largely a mystery since the disclosure several weeks ago that the nation's top jurist has thyroid cancer, but several upcoming events may serve as an indicator of the status of Rehnquist's condition, chief among which is the January inauguration of President Bush's second term. If Rehnquist, who by then will likely have completed most of his cancer treatments, is unable to attend and perform the chief justice's traditional duty of swearing in the president, it would be a significant sign to the nation that he will be unable to continue in his role, fueling retirement and replacement speculation for the first opening on the court in a decade. There have only been eight presidential oaths administered by someone other than a chief justice, often in the case of assassination or other special circumstances. See the full report from AP.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Thomas Becket, former Chancellor of England, murdered by Henry II's knights

On December 29, 1170, Archbishop Thomas Becket, former Chancellor of England, was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by knights acting in the name of Henry II.

Becket and Henry had been entangled in a power struggle over, among other things, criminal jurisdiction over clergy. Read a contemporary account of the murder of Thomas Becket.

Texas attains US statehood

On December 29, 1845, Texas became the twenty-eighth state to join the United States of America when US President James K. Polk signed the Ordinance of Annexation. Texas had a complicated path to statehood because it had formerly been part of Mexico and then an independent republic. The US Congress passed the Annexation of the Republic of Texas Joint Resolution on March 1, 1845. Voters in Texas then approved the Ordinance of Annexation in October, before it was approved by the US Congress and signed into law by President Polk on this day in 1845. The US Supreme Court later ruled in Texas v. White that, despite its unique path to statehood, Texas did not have the right to secede from the union.