Charles A. Bane - Failed Nomination To The Seventh Circuit

Failed Nomination To The Seventh Circuit

On May 28, 1969, President Richard Nixon nominated Bane to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit to replace Elmer Jacob Schnackenberg, who had died in September 1968. Immediately, Bane's nomination ran into trouble for three reasons. First, Bane had litigation pending on his 1963 tax return because of his attempt to deduct $16,000 for business and entertainment expenses. Deputy Attorney General Richard Kleindienst had asked Bane to attempt a settlement with the Internal Revenue Service, and although Bane had tried unsuccessfully to reach a settlement. With the IRS declining to back down from its position, Bane told the White House he would prefer to litigate the case. In addition, Bane had been alleged to have been anti-semitic because he allowed a Jewish family to be rejected for an apartment by the board of his cooperative apartment building at 209 E. Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. Finally, Bane, in a letter he sent to the president on June 30, 1969 requesting that his nomination be withdrawn, cited "pressing commitments" in his law firm and a growing need for him to remain there.

On October 22, 1969, Nixon formally withdrew Bane's nomination.

On September 22, 1970, Nixon nominated John Paul Stevens to the seat to which he had nominated Bane. Stevens was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 8, 1970, and Stevens eventually went on to a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States.

Bane was the only federal appeals-court nominee of Nixon's entire presidency who was never confirmed. (Two of Nixon's Supreme Court nominees, Clement Haynsworth and G. Harrold Carswell, both were rejected outright by the United States Senate in votes.)