Rehnquist to Keep Working at Home

WASHINGTON â€”  Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer, will not be on the bench when the Supreme Court returns next week for the second half of its current term, the court announced Friday.

Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said Rehnquist would continue to participate in court business from home, reading briefs and transcripts of arguments, taking part in justices’ conferences and voting on cases.

Rehnquist’s last appearance in an official capacity was Jan. 20, when he administered the oath of office in a raspy voice to President Bush at the inaugural ceremony.

His previous public appearance was Oct. 18, shortly before the court disclosed his illness.

In January, when the court announced he would not sit on the bench when the justices returned from their New Year’s break, his absence was attributed to “continuing secretions caused by his tracheotomy and radiation therapy.�

The court announcement Friday said Rehnquist, 80, would be absent next week “for the same reasons he was not on the bench in January.�

The court is scheduled to return from its winter recess Tuesday.

Rehnquist’s absence from the court has prompted speculation that he might soon retire and has fueled lobbying across the political spectrum in anticipation of a fight over possible successors.

Bush is the first president since Jimmy Carter to serve a four-year term without naming a justice to the Supreme Court.

Legal experts said Rehnquist’s absence was unlikely to seriously affect the work of the court.

“It is not as though they sit around and debate the outcome of cases,� said Eric M. Freedman, professor of constitutional law at Hofstra University School of Law in New York. “They sit in isolated chambers and send each other memos. Plainly, they can continue to do that.�

President Nixon appointed Rehnquist to the court in 1972. Rehnquist was elevated to chief justice, the nation’s 16th, by President Reagan in 1986.