Ronald Reagan Judicial Appointment Controversies - Others Who Were Considered For Nomination

Others Who Were Considered For Nomination

In 1981, Reagan strongly and publicly had considered nominating Hallmark Cards attorney Judith Whittaker, who is the daughter-in-law of the late Supreme Court associate justice Charles Evans Whittaker, to a vacancy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit that had been created by the decision by Floyd Robert Gibson to take senior status. Whittaker, a Republican, was dropped from consideration in December 1982 before being formally nominated, amid grassroots concerns among conservatives about Whittaker's support of the Equal Rights Amendment and published rumors suggesting that she favored abortion rights. Ultimately, the White House nominated John R. Gibson in 1982 to the seat, and he was confirmed by the United States Senate.

In 1982, Reagan strongly and publicly had considered nominating New Orleans lawyer Ben C. Toledano to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to replace Robert Andrew Ainsworth, Jr., who had died in 1981. Toledano was recommended for the position by Louisiana's Republican leadership, including then-Gov. David C. Treen. However, Toledano's nomination was opposed by local and state chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and a local group of African-American attorneys, who cited Toledano's involvement in his 20s as an active supporter of racial segregation and his efforts to organize the segregationist States' Rights Party of Louisiana. (It should also be noted, however, that a number of prominent Louisiana blacks supported the nomination.) In December 1982, Reagan's Counsel to the President, Fred Fielding, wrote in a memo that the joint White House-Justice Department working group "has identified Benjamin C. Toledano...as a well-qualified candidate for nomination to the existing vacancy on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. However, we believe the facts described below should be brought to your personal attention before further action occurs on the part of this prospective nominee." Fielding's memo described Toledano's past and the opposition to his nomination by a committee of the American Bar Association. Several days later, the White House informed Toledano that it would not proceed with his nomination, and evidence shows that Reagan himself personally made the decision. Reagan wound up nominating W. Eugene Davis to the seat, and he was confirmed in 1983.