Bernard Siegan - Nomination To The Ninth Circuit

Nomination To The Ninth Circuit

On February 2, 1987, President Ronald Reagan nominated Siegan, who was a close friend of then-Attorney General Edwin Meese, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to fill the seat vacated by Judge Warren J. Ferguson, who had taken senior status. Almost immediately, Siegan's nomination ran into opposition from liberals and even some conservatives because of his libertarian views on economic matters, and on property rights in particular. Siegan also had held the position that the U.S. Supreme Court had erred in major civil rights rulings. The nomination was followed by one of the longest delays by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in addressing any judicial nomination in U.S. history up to that point. One of the loudest opponents to Siegan's nomination was Harvard Law School Professor Lawrence Tribe, whose view toward Siegan softened years later.

Siegan had confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee on November 5, 1987 and again on February 25, 1988, but his senatorial opponents were not satisfied by the answers that he gave. Although Reagan administration officials had told Siegan in early 1988 that he had no chance of being confirmed, Siegan refused to withdraw, preferring instead to proceed with a vote from the Senate Judiciary Committee. On July 14, 1988, his nomination was defeated by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which voted 8–6 not to report his nomination favorably (an almost unheard-of action), and deadlocked 7-7 on whether to forward the nomination to the full Senate without a recommendation. Siegan himself formally withdrew his nomination on September 16, 1988.

Reagan later nominated Ferdinand Francis Fernandez to the seat, although he did so after the traditional start date of the Thurmond Rule in a presidential election year, and Fernandez's nomination was not acted upon by senators before the 100th Congress adjourned. President George H. W. Bush opted not to renominate Siegan to the seat either, instead renominating Ferdinand Francis Fernandez to the seat in 1989. Fernandez was confirmed that same year.

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