Monday, May. 04, 2009

Clement Haynsworth and G. Harrold Carswell

Richard Nixon had two high-profile Supreme Court nomination strikeouts. First, in 1969, he put forth judge Clement Haynsworth (left) — a Southerner reviled by labor and civil rights groups for rulings related to union representation and school desegregation. Labor activists, hoping to derail the Haynsworth nomination, disclosed that the judge had a possible financial stake in a case he decided while on the Fourth Circuit. The Senate voted 55-45 against his nomination. The next year, Nixon tried again, nominating another Southerner, G. Harrold Carswell (right), reviled by civil rights groups for his earlier support for segregation. He went down in flames as well, with one Senator infamously arguing unsuccessfully for his confirmation by saying, "Even if he is mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers, and they are entitled to a little representation, aren't they?"