Warren Earl Burger

Burger, Warren Earl (1907– ), chief justice of the United States Supreme Court 1969–86. Appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, Justice Burger moved the court in a conservative direction. Before his Supreme Court appointment, he served as judge on the United States Court of Appeals (1955–69) and as an Assistant United States Attorney General (1953–5). Throughout his career, he tended to limit the number of appeals and trials for each court case, to give state courts more authority, and to loosen rules of admission for introducing confessions of the defendants as evidence in trials.

See also: Supreme Court of the United States.