Justice.
Warren Burger in 1971
I assume that no one will take issue with me when I say that these North European countries are as enlightened as the United States in the value they place on the individual and on human dignity. [Those countries] do not consider it necessary to use a device like our Fifth Amendment, under which an accused person may not be required to testify. They go swiftly, efficiently and directly to the question of whether the accused is guilty. No nation on earth goes to such lengths or takes such pains to provide safeguards as we do, once an accused person is called before the bar of justice and until his case is completed.
-Warren E. Burger, 1967
The 15th Chief Justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986, Warren Burger was born in Saint Paul. He grew up on the family farm near the edge of the city. Burger attended Johnson High School, where he was president of the student council. He graduated in 1925. That same year, Burger also worked with the crew building the Robert Street Bridge. He attended night school at the University of Minnesota while selling insurance for Mutual Life Insurance. Afterward, he enrolled at one of William Mitchell’s predecessors, St. Paul College of Law and received his degree magna cum laude in 1931. He took a job at the firm of Boyensen, Otis and Faricy, now known as Moore, Costello & Hart. In 1937, Burger served as the eighth president of the Saint Paul Jaycees. He also taught for twelve years at William Mitchell. In 1948 He supported Minnesota Governor Harold E. Stassen’s unsuccessful pursuit of the Republican nomination for President.In 1952 he played a key role in Dwight D. Eisenhower’s nomination by delivering the Minnesota delegation at the Republican convention. After he was elected, President Eisenhower appointed Burger as the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Division of the Justice Department. In 1969, President Nixon nominated Warren Burger to replace the retiring Chief Justice, Earl Warren. Burger had conservative leanings and was considered a strict constructionist. When Burger was nominated for Chief Justice conservatives expected that the Burger Court would overturn controversial Warren Court era precedents. By the early 1970s it became apparent that the Burger Court was not going to reverse the rulings of the Warren Court and may even extend some Warren Court doctrines after Burger Court delivered a variety of transformative decisions on abortion, capital punishment, religious establishment, and school desegregation.
I was thinking about using Minnesota Supreme Court Justice and Pro Football Hall of Famer, Alan Cedric Page page for this card. Harry Blackmun could have worked, but Burger was born in Saint Paul and that has to count for something.
Justice is traditionally the eighth card and Strength the eleventh, but the in Rider-Waite-Smith deck the position of these two cards was switched in order to make them better fit the astrological correspondences worked out by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, under which the eighth card is associated with Leo and the eleventh with Libra. Today many decks use this numbering, particularly in the English-speaking world.
The Justice card stands for fairness, impartiality, balance and legal issues. Justice serves as a reminder that every action has its consequences, and signifies responsibilities and difficult choices. You may find yourself trying to do the right thing, holding on to what you believe in or having to face the truth.
