"He will be remembered as one of the giants of the federal bench. He had a great life that ended much too soon," Thomas said.
Reinhardt, an appointee of former President Carter, was dubbed the "liberal lion" of the federal circuit courts.
His rulings in favor of criminal defendants, minorities and immigrants were often overturned by the more conservative U.S. Supreme Court.
Many lawyers have joked that Reinhardt's name on a ruling was probably enough to get the attention of the conservatives on the Supreme Court. In 1996, after Reinhardt was reversed several times by the Supreme Court, The Times asked him if he was upset.
"Not in the slightest!" he boomed. "If they want to take away rights, that's their privilege. But I'm not going to help them do it."
We need judges who think that way about the 2A.
