Relationship With Law Clerks
Blackmun has been noted for the fact that compared to other Justices on the Supreme Court, he has let his law clerks utilize great latitude as far as writing opinions for him, such as his opinion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which was written by Stephanie Dangel, now a lawyer in Pennsylvania. Blackmun's Casey opinion draft included sharp criticism of Chief Justice Rehnquist, which included, according to Dangel, a sarcastic reference to Rehnquist as "The Chief" rather than Chief Justice because "I have my doubts as to whether he deserves to be called 'justice' on this one." Dangel, however, changed it to "Chief Justice" at the urging of Justice Anthony Kennedy.
It has also been revealed by Blackmun in a 1995 oral history with Harold Koh that his dissent in Bowers v. Hardwick was written by a clerk, Pam Karlan. Blackmun said of the dissent; "arlan did a lot of very effective writing, and I owe a lot to her and her ability in getting that dissent out. She felt very strongly about it, and I think is correct in her approach to it. I think the dissent is correct."
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