Supreme Court Nomination
On January 19, 1970, after Clement Haynsworth of South Carolina was rejected by the U.S. Senate for an appointment to the United States Supreme Court, President Nixon nominated Carswell to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court to replace Justice Abe Fortas, an appointee of former U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. Carswell was praised by Southern senators including Richard B. Russell, Jr., of Georgia, but he was also criticized by others for the high reversal rate (58 percent) of his decisions as a district court judge.
Others questioned his civil rights record, citing his voiced support for racial segregation during his unsuccessful Georgia legislative bid in 1948, while feminists accused him of being an opponent of women's rights. Various feminists, including Betty Friedan, testified before the Senate, opposed his nomination and contributed to his defeat.
In defense against charges that Carswell was "mediocre", U.S. Senator Roman Hruska, a Nebraska Republican, stated:
- "Even if he were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren't they, and a little chance? We can't have all Brandeises, Frankfurters and Cardozos."
Hruska's remark was criticized by many and may have damaged Carswell's cause.
On April 8, 1970, the United States Senate refused to confirm Carswell's nomination to serve on the Supreme Court. The vote was 51 to 45. Seventeen Democrats and twenty-eight Republicans voted for Carswell. Thirty-eight Democrats and thirteen Republicans voted against him. President Nixon accused Democrats of having an anti-Southern bias as a result saying, "After the Senate’s action yesterday in rejecting Judge Carswell, I have reluctantly concluded that it is not possible to get confirmation for the judge on the Supreme Court of any man who believes in the strict construction of the Constitution as I do, if he happens to come from the South."
Nixon then nominated Minnesota judge Harry Blackmun, subsequently the author of Roe v. Wade, to fill the Fortas vacancy. Blackmun was later confirmed in a 94–0 vote.
Read more about this topic: G. Harrold Carswell
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