US Supreme Court Nominee Case Studies

Elena Kagan 2010

Biography:

• Born New York, New York, 1960
• Her father is Robert Kagan, a former attorney, and her mother Glora, taught at Hunter College Elementary School
• Kagan is Jewish and attended Lincoln Square Synagogue, and was independent and strong-willed in her youth. Today she identifies with Conservative Judaism
• In 1980, Kagan received Princeton’s Daniel M. Sachs Class of 1960 Graduating Scholarship, which enabled her to study at Worcester College, Oxford
• She earned a Master of Philosophy at Oxford in 1983
• Kagan then receieved a Juris Doctor at Harvard Law School in 1986
• Kagan was Associate White House Counsel under Clinton from 1995-6
• From 1997-1999, she worked as Deputy Assistant to Clinton for Deomestic Policy and Deputy Director of Domestic Policy Council. She co-authored a 1997 memo urging Clinton to support a ban on late-term abortions
• June 17, 1999 Clinton nominated Kagan to US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia

Nomination Details:

On May 10, 2010, Obama nominated Kagan to the Supreme Court. She is the first justice appointed without any prior experience as a judge since William Rehnquise in 1972, the fourth female justice and the eighth Jewish justice. There was opposition from many liberals and progressives who were worried that replacing Stevens with Kagan would risk moving the Court to the right.

Senate Judiciary Committee Details:

The Confirmation hearings began June 28, and revealed no new revelations about her character or background. On July 20, 2010, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-6 to recommend Kagan’s confirmation to the Senate. She was accused of being evasive, as she had previously accused other Supreme Court nominees of being.

Senate Confirmation Details:

On August 5, the full Senate confirmed her nomination by 63-37. Voting along the party lines, with five Republicans opposing her and one Democrat.

Robert Bork 1987

Biography:

• Born: March 1, 1927, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US
• Died: December 19, 2012, Arlington, Virginia, US
• Religion: Catholic
• Bachelor and Law Degrees from the University of Chicago
• Professor at Yale Law School- 1962-75, 1977-81
• His students included Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton
• Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit- February 9, 1982- February 5, 1988
• United States Solicitor General- March 21, 1973- January 20, 1977
• United States Attorney General- October 20, 1973- December 17, 1973
• Involvement in Saturday Night Massacre
• October 20, 1973- President Nixon’s firing of Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox following his request for tapes of his Oval Office conversations, two Attorney Generals resigned rather than fire Cox, but Bork fired him. In return, Nixon promised him a seat on the Supreme Court

Nomination:

Robert Bork was nominated on July 1, 1987 by President Ronald Reagan to serve as an Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court, to replace Lewis Powell, a moderate, ‘swing vote’ in close decisions. Within 45 minutes of Bork’s nomination to the Court, Senator Ted Kennedy took to the Senate floor with a strong condemnation of Bork in a nationally televised speech:

‘Robert Bork’s America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rouge police could break down citizen’s doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the Government, and the doors of the Federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens’.

Television advertisements narrated by Gregory Peck attacked Bork as an extremist.

Senate Judiciary Committee Details:

On October 6, Bork’s nomination was rejected in the committee by a 9-5 vote. Committee rejection made a rejection by the full (Democrat) Senate extremely likely, Bork was expected to concede defeat, but announced that there would be a debate in the Senate, ‘for the sake of Federal judiciary and the American people… the deliberative process must be restored’.

Senate Confirmation Details:

On October 23, 1987, the Senate denied Bork’s confirmation, 42-58. Two Democratic Senators voted in his favour, and 6 Republican Senators voted against him.

 Harriet Miers 2005

Biography:

• Born: August 10, 1945, Dallas, Texas, US
• Education: Dedman School of Law, Hillcreat High School, Southern Methodist University (bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a Juris Doctor degree)
• At the time of nomination all sitting justices were from leading law schools (Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia and Northwestern)
• White House Staff Secretary: January 2001- June 2003 (GWB)
• White House Deputy Chief of Staff (June 2003- February 2005

Nomination:

October 3, 2005, Harriet Miers was nominated for Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court by President George W Bush, to replace retiring Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Following from outcry from the Senate due to Miers’ close relationship with President Bush, along with her seemingly ‘liberal’ tendencies, Miers was attacked by both the centrists and right wing:

‘Conflict between her role as nominee and the principle she’s espoused as White House counsel and counsel to the president’- Gillespie

Harriet Meirs was criticised due to her support of Affirmative Action, suggested support for civil liberties of homosexuals, and the lack of clarity on her stance on abortion .There was also criticism over the lack of constitutional background and judicial experience Miers had.

Harriet Miers withdrawal letter to the president: ‘concerned that the confirmation process presents a burden for the White House and its staff and it is not in the best interest of the country’- October 27 2005

‘It was clear that the Senators would not be satisfied until they gained access to internal documents concerning advice provided during her tenure at the White House—disclosures that would undermine a president’s ability to receive candid counsel’- Bush said in a statement

Clarence Thomas 1991

Biography

• Educated at Yale Law School
• 1981 appointed as Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the US Department of Education
• 1982 made Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Nomination:

• Initially nominated on Bush’s short list but failed to make the confirmation to replace William Brennen. Then nominated by Bush again on 1^stJuly 1991 to replace Thurgood Marhsall (as he retired). He succeeded and thus became Thurgood Marshall’s replacement on October 23^rd 1991
• Thomas’s confirmation hearing was bitter as there was accusations that he had sexually harassed attorney Anita Hill (a member in the Department of Education)
• US senate confirmed vote by 52-48
• His nomination was controversial; many African-American and Civil Rights organisations (including the NAACP) feared that Thomas’ conservative stance on issues like Affirmative Action would reverse the Civil Rights gains that Justice Marshall fought to achieve.
• When his nomination moved to the floor of the Senate, Anita Hill made accusations that Thomas had sexually harassed her. She worked for him when he was head of the EEOC; she claimed he harassed her with inappropriate discussion of sexual acts and pornographic film after she refused his invitations to date him. This thus caused a media frenzy around his nomination.
• The Anita Hill-Clarance Thomas controversy is said by many to have been a flash point that illuminated many of the central tensions (between men and women) in late 20^thCentury America

Antonin Scalia 1986

Biography

• He served under Nixon and ford; first at minor administrative agencies, then moving up to an assistant attorney general.
• 1982 appointed as a judge of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Nomination

• 1986 nominated by Reagan  Reagan nominated him to replace William Rehnquist as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States after Rehnquist had been nominated by Reagan to serve as chief justice of the United States and appointed on 26^thSeptember 1986
• Was asked very few difficult questions by the Senate Judiciary Committee and didn’t any opposition.
• US senate confirmed vote by 98-0
• Became the first Italian-American justice
• He is Roman Catholic
• Conservatives considered him their “saviour”, while liberals labelled him “the Terminator” due to his reputation of narrowly reading the constitution and his conservative judicial philosophy. For example, he opposes affirmative action.
• He is known for his strict practice of textualism and originalism.
• Not a very controversial appointment and no real scandals/controversies surrounding his nomination success

 John Roberts 2005

Biography

• Chief justice of the Supreme Court
• Nominated and confirmed as a federal judge in 2003 to the District of Columbia circuit

Nomination:

• First nominated in 2005 by George W.Bush to fill Sandra Day O’Connors vacancy as she announed intention to retire in 2005. However Bush withdrew his nomination so he could nominate Roberts to be an associate justice when Justice Rehnquist passed away on September 3^rd
• Bush renominated him on September 6^th 2005 to be the next Chief Justice
• Took his seat on September 29^th2005 with a vote of 78-22
• Some say that the move to making John Roberts C.J meant that Bush’s influence on the judiciary would remain long after his presidency ends
• However no serious scandal or controversies surrounding his nomiation; the only real media coverage that expressed shock was because of the withdrawal then reappointment by Bush.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg 1993

Biography:

• Born March 15^th1933 (81 years old)
• She grew up in a low income, working class neighbourhood; her mother taught her the value of independence and a good education.
• Ginsburg graduated from Cornell University in 1954, finishing first in her class.
• After getting married her husband was in the army for two year, and then they both enrolled at Harvard. She learnt to balance like as a mother and as a law student.
• She also encountered a very male-dominated, hostile environment, with only eight females in her class of 500.
• When her husband took a job in New York City, she transferred to Columbia Law School and became the first woman to be on both the Harvard and Columbia law reviews.
• Before becoming a judge she spent a considerable portion of her legal career as an advocate for the advancement of women’s rights as a constitutional principle.
• Generally viewed as being on the liberal wing of the court

Nomination details:

She was appointed by President Carter to the U.S. Court of Appeals in 1980 and was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Clinton on June 14^th 1993 as an Associate Justice to fill the seat vacated by retiring Justice Byron White. Ginsburg was recommended to Clinton by the US attorney general at the time- Janet Reno.

Senate judiciary committee details:

• She refused to answer questions regarding her personal views on most issues or how she would adjudicate certain hypothetical situations as a Supreme Court Justice.
• At the same time, Ginsburg did answer questions relating to some potentially controversial issues. For instance, she affirmed her belief in a constitutional right to privacy and explicated at some length on her personal judicial philosophy and thoughts regarding gender equality.
• Following the strong dissents read by Justice Ginsburg during the end of the Supreme Courts October 2012 term, a blog dedicated to quotes, memes and cartoons was created.

Senate confirmation details:

The U.S. Senate confirmed her by a 96 to 3 vote and she took her judicial oath on August 10, 1993.

Stephen Breyer 1993

 Biography:

• Born on August 15, 1938 (76 years old)
• He was raised in a middle-class Jewish family
• In 1955, Breyer graduated from Lowell High School.
• Breyer received a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Stanford University, a Bachelor of Arts from Magdalen College at Oxford University as a Marshal Scholar, and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) from Harvard Law School. He is also fluent in French.
• He has 3 children.
• Breyer served as a law clerk to Associate Justice Arthur Goldberg during the 1964 term, and served briefly as a fact-checker for the Warren Commission.
• Breyer was a lecturer, assistant professor, and law professor at Harvard Law School starting in 1967. He taught there until 1994.

Nomination details:

From 1980 to 1994, Breyer was a judge on the Court of appeals for the first circuit.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton considered him for the seat vacated by Byron White that ultimately went to Justice Ginsburg. Breyer’s appointment came shortly after following the retirement of Harry Blackmun in 1994, when Clinton nominated Breyer as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on May 13 of that year.

Senate judiciary committee details:

Breyer sailed through the hearings with little rancour from either Republicans or Democrats, and won unanimous approval from the committee. Those hearings were vastly different from the contentious committee meetings that greeted other recent Supreme Court nominees. Evidence of Breyer’s centrist views became clear.

Senate confirmation details:

Breyer was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in an 87 to 9 vote and took his seat August 3, 1994. Breyer was the second-longest-serving junior justice in the history of the Court, close to surpassing the record set by Justice Joseph Story of 4,228 days.

 Sonia Sotomayor 2009

Biography

• Born: June 25, 1954 (age 60), The Bronx, New York City, New York, United States
• Spouse: Kevin Noonan(m. 1976–1983)
• Books: My Beloved World
• Parents: Juan Sotomayor, Celina Báez
• Nominations: Goodreads Choice Awards Best Memoir & Autobiography
• Education: Yale Law School(1979), Princeton University (1976),Cardinal Spellman High School

Nominations

Sotomayor has served on the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the New York City Campaign Finance Board, and State of New York Mortgage Agency from 1988.

Sotomayor has also been the US District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York City. President George H.W. Bush nominated her for the position in 1992, which was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate on August 11, 1992.

Sotomayor was further promoted to US. Second Circuit Court of Appeals by President William Clinton on October 3, 1998.

Senate Judiciary Committee Details

Republican Senators refused to back Sotomayor on the basis that she did not answer questions o whether she thought that her remark of ‘wise Latina’ meant that she was better able to make a judgement than a white male judge. In addition to this, Sotomayor has stated that she feels no empathy for those that appear before her in Court.

Senate Confirmation Details

Sonia Sotomayor won the confirmation with 68- 31 votes. 9 Republicans also supported her nomination. Sotomayor took her seat on the Supreme Court in August 2009.

 Sandra Day O’Connor 1981

 Biography

• Born: March 26, 1930 (age 84), El Paso, Texas, United States
• Spouse: John Jay O’Connor(m. 1952–2009)
• Books: Out of Order: Stories from the History of the Supreme Court,more
• Children: Jay O’Connor, Brian O’Connor, Scott O’Connor
• Awards: Presidential Medal of Freedom
• Siblings:  Alan Day

 Nominations

Was the first woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. She was considered a moderate conservative and served for 24 years.

In Arizona, Sandra Day O’Connor worked as the assistant attorney general in the 1960s. She became judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court in 1974. In 1979, O’Connor was selected to serve on the state’s court of appeals. President Reagan nominated her for associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and she received approval from the Senate in 1981.

Senate Judiciary Committee Details

The Judiciary Committee was impressed with  knowledge and intelligence, O’Connor’s nomination was also supported by prominent Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, and Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist.

Senate Confirmation Details

After the hearings were completed, the full Senate voted to confirm O’Connor on September 21, 1981 by a vote of 99-0