- Hershel Friday
Herschel H. Friday (
February 10 ,1922 -March 1 ,1994 ) was anArkansas bond lawyer whom PresidentRichard Nixon considered appointing to theUnited States Supreme Court . After theAmerican Bar Association felt Friday's nomination was too controversial due to his firm's representation of the Little Rock School District throughout the1957 Central High School Crisis , Nixon nominated Lewis Powell instead.During Nixon's first term, three associate justices resigned from the Supreme Court. The first vacancy was created by the resignation of
Abe Fortas . TheUnited States Senate rejected Nixon's first two nominees for that vacancy, Clement F. Haynsworth andG. Harrold Carswell . Nixon then nominatedHarry A. Blackmun , who was confirmed.Justices John Harlan and
Hugo Black announced their retirements in 1971. In spite of the rejections of Haynsworth and Carswell, Nixon strongly considered nominating Friday and JudgeMildred Lillie to the high court. Friday was a former member of theAmerican Bar Association Board of Delegates; Lillie was a judge on an intermediate state appellate court inCalifornia . After theAmerican Bar Association rated both Friday and Lillie as "not qualified," Nixon nominated Lewis Powell andWilliam H. Rehnquist instead, both of whom were successfully confirmed.Friday returned to his Arkansas law firm, Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP, one of the State's oldest, and the long-standing largest law firm in the state. Friday would later be a benefactor of Governor and President
Bill Clinton . Friday died onMarch 1 ,1994 in an aviation accident.
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