Chief Justice William Rehnquist's annual two-week lecture class on the history of the Supreme Court ended Friday, and students in the class said they appreciated the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"It was a unique experience. Not many students get a chance to talk and answer questions with a chief justice," said second-year law student Joan Bundy, who was in the class of about 130 students.
Rehnquist's personal experiences are what set the class apart from any other about the Supreme Court, said Cisco Aguilar, a fourth-year law student who is also working on his master's in business administration.
Matt Mansfield said it was interesting to hear firsthand about the process involved in Supreme Court decisions and how things work in the court.
"You're not going to get that from someone who wasn't on the court," the second-year law student said.
"He gives a great perspective on the impact each chief justice has, to make (the court) what it is today," Aguilar said.
Rehnquist's knowledge and research on the history of the Supreme Court included stories and funny anecdotes about the people on the court at different times, said Ana Himelic, a second-year law student.
"He really put the Supreme Court into context, as far as the people who were sitting on the court during different time periods and why they wrote what they wrote," Himelic said. "It's
something you can't get from constitutional law books."
Mansfield said he learned more about constitutional law from the course because of interactive class discussions.
Students said Rehnquist made sure not to speak about the last 19 years, 16 of which he has been a justice in the court.
Aguilar said Rehnquist was smart to keep the politics out of the classroom.
"If he could talk about things, it would mold people's minds. He doesn't want to get a political policy in place ... before the argument is in court," Aguilar said.
He also did not discuss things that he thought could come up in court during his tenure as a justice.
A student asked a question regarding the constitutionality of war without declaration, noting that the United States has not declared war since World War II.
Rehnquist did not answer the question because he said the court may be deliberating the same issue in future sessions.
But Joel DeConcini said he wished Rehnquist had discussed more contemporary political problems.
"It would have been more fun if we'd gotten into some of the contemporary things, some decisions he made," the second-year law student said.
But others said they didn't feel like something was missing without the last couple of decades included in the class.
"It was clear from the beginning that this was a one-credit history of the Supreme Court class, not a law class," Mansfield said.