Rehnquist Funeral Wednesday

Teary-eyed Supreme Court justices, a somber President Bush and one-time clerk John Roberts led a long line of Americans paying their last respects to William H. Rehnquist, the chief justice whose conservatism helped drive the high court toward the right.

Washington protocol underscored a changing of the guard Tuesday. Roberts, the former Rehnquist clerk named to succeed his old boss, was among the pallbearers carrying the flag-draped casket up the court's long steps and into the Great Hall.

CBSNews.com Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen reports on the poignant atmosphere Tuesday morning.

"John G. Roberts, Jr. took hold of his former boss's casket along with seven other former law clerks as they strode up the steps of the Supreme Court," Cohen said. "Each of them seemed deep in thought; each struggling a bit to walk up the same grand marble steps that Roberts spoke so eloquently about that night in July when he was first nominated for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's spot."

Rehnquist died Saturday at 80 after battling thyroid cancer.

Mr. Bush, his head bowed, and first lady Laura Bush spent about a minute standing near the casket and a short time looking at the portrait of Rehnquist on a stand nearby. Justice Antonin Scalia escorted the couple.

On Wednesday, funeral services will be at 2 p.m. at St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington, open to friends and family. Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney plan to attend, and the president is to speak.

Mr. Bush initially nominated Roberts, a federal appellate judge, to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who announced in July that she would step down. The president said Monday that he would nominate Roberts to be the nation's 17th chief justice instead and that the list of possible nominees for O'Connor's seat was now "wide open."

Flags, including the one above the court, were at half-staff in honor of Rehnquist, a President Nixon appointee who served on the court for 33 years and was elevated to chief justice in 1986 by President Reagan.

In an acknowledgment of the period of mourning, Roberts' confirmation hearings, which had been scheduled to begin Tuesday in the Senate, were delayed until next Monday.

Mr. Bush and Senate Republicans are pushing to confirm Roberts before the new court session that begins Oct. 3. Democrats cautioned against a rush to judgment now that Roberts is a candidate for chief justice and at age 50, could shape the court for decades.

"I would hope all senators, Republicans and Democrats, would ask very substantive questions because this is, after all, a lifetime position," said Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.

In a simple morning ceremony, six justices, along with former clerks and court staff lined the steps outside the court, awaiting the arrival of the hearse bearing Rehnquist's casket. Seven men and one woman — most of them former Rehnquist clerks — carried the casket past the line that included a crying O'Connor.

In the Great Hall, Rehnquist's casket was placed on the Lincoln Catafalque, the structure on which President Lincoln's coffin rested in the Rotunda of the Capitol a century and a half earlier. Two sprays of flowers and the portrait were on display.

At the east end of the hall were the doors leading to the court chamber, a reminder of Rehnquist's years of service.

The Rev. George Evans Jr., the Rehnquist family pastor at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Virginia, read from psalms and led the Lord's Prayer. There were audible sobs from the family.

Rehnquist's personal employees were the first to make a circle around the coffin. A stream of other court workers followed. Absent were Justices Anthony M. Kennedy and David Souter.

After the brief ceremony, a long line of people formed outside the court and people began walking inside past the coffin. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., were among those who paused before the casket.

Among the first was Sarah Chusid, 24, an intern at Mobilizing America's Youth, a private organization that seeks to increase the involvement of young people across the political spectrum.

Although she considers herself a liberal, Chusid said she respected the influential role that Rehnquist played on the court for more than three decades. "This is a pivotal time in the court's history; I had to come down and bear witness to this event," she said.

Rehnquist was involved in two extraordinary interventions in the executive branch — the impeachment trial of President Clinton and the settlement of the 2000 election in Mr. Bush's favor. He oversaw a court that dealt with the separation of church and state, the rights of states, affirmative action, abortion and gay rights.

Rehnquist was Lutheran, but his funeral will be held at a Roman Catholic church. Susan Gibbs, spokeswoman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, said Rehnquist's family had requested use of the church, primarily because of space. She said church rules allow it to be used for other Christian services if there is a need.

Gibbs said plans called for "just a very simple Lutheran service" led by Evans.

Military honors for Rehnquist at the funeral will include 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."

St. Matthew's was the site of President Kennedy's funeral in 1963. The funeral of former Justice William Brennan, a Catholic, also was held there.

Burial at Arlington National Cemetery will be private. Rehnquist served as a soldier in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II.