Howell Heflin

Infobox Senator |name=Howell Thomas Heflin
nationality=American


jr/sr=United States Senator
state=Alabama
party=Democrat
term_start=January 3, 1979
term_end=January 3, 1997
preceded=John J. Sparkman
succeeded=Jeff Sessions
date of birth=birth date|1921|6|19|mf=y
place of birth= Poulan, Georgia
dead=yes
date of death=death date and age|2005|3|29|1921|6|19|mf=y
place of death=Sheffield, Alabama
spouse=
religion=Methodist
alma_mater=University of Alabama School of Law
office2 = Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court
term_start2 = 1971
term_end2 = 1977
nominator =
appointer =
predecessor2 = Hon. J. Ed Livingston
successor2 = Hon. C. C. Torbert, Jr.

Howell Thomas Heflin (June 19, 1921 – March 29, 2005) was a United States Senator from Alabama, and a member of the Democratic Party.

Although born in Poulan, Georgia, Heflin was the nephew of prominent Alabama politician James Thomas Heflin and greatnephew of Alabama congressman Robert Stell Heflin. Following graduation from high school, Heflin attended Birmingham-Southern College (graduated 1942) and the University of Alabama Law School (graduated 1948). During this time he also served as a U.S. Marine officer in World War II and was awarded the Silver Star for combat, seeing action on Bougainville and Guam.

He became a law professor, and then became the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court from 1971 to 1977.

In 1978, Heflin was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate to succeed John Sparkman. He remained in the Senate, where he rose to become Chairman of the Select Committee on Ethics, until January 3, 1997. While on the Ethics Committee, he led the prosecution against fellow Senator Howard Cannon (D-NV) for violations of Senate rules.

His stances on cultural issues most often reflected the region he was from. He strongly opposed legal abortion and all gun control laws. Heflin supported prayer in public schools and opposed extending federal laws against discrimination to lesbians and gays. He voted in favor of the Gulf War and against limiting spending on defense. With Fritz Hollings from South Carolina, he was one of only two Democrats in the Senate to vote against the Family and Medical Leave Act. He occasionally voted with Republicans on taxes. On other economic issues he was more in sync with the populist wing of his party. He voted against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and attempts to weaken enforcement of consumer protection measures. He strongly supported affirmative action laws. He memorably voted against the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, complaining of his lack of experience and interest.

During his tenure, Heflin was considered to have bipartisan support if he were nominated for a vacancy on the United States Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan. Nevertheless, Heflin did not wish to serve on the highest court in the United States.

The University of Alabama School of Law has honored Heflin with the "Howell Heflin Conference Room" in the Bounds Law Library. There is also a street named "Howell Heflin Lane" in Tuscumbia, Alabama.

External links

* [http://www.nndb.com/people/868/000022802/ Howell Heflin profile, NNDB]
*cite web|accessdate=2007-04-22|url=http://www.thewalkingdead.org/biographiesmission.html
title=Interview With a Senator and a Marine
author=Maj Fred H. Allison, USMC
work=Marines and Corpsmen who served with the 1st Battalion 9th Marines
*cite web|accessdate=2007-04-22
url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000445
title=Heflin, Howell Thomas (1921–2005)
work=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
* [http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/A-010/menu.html Oral history interview] by Jack Bass and Walter DeVries, July 1974 (Southern Oral History Program, UNC-Chapel Hill)

Persondata
NAME = Heflin, Howell Thomas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Democratic United States Senator from Alabama
DATE OF BIRTH = June 19, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH = Poulan, Georgia
DATE OF DEATH = March 29, 2005
PLACE OF DEATH = Sheffield, Alabama