G. Harrold Carswell

George Harrold Carswell (December 22, 1919 – July 13, 1992) was a Federal Judge and an unsuccessful nominee to the United States Supreme Court. He did not use his first name and was called by his middle name, "Harrold" Carswell.

Early years

Carswell was born in Irwinton, Georgia, graduated from Duke University in 1941, and briefly attended the University of Georgia School of Law before joining the United States Navy. He served as a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve and was discharged in 1945 at the end of World War II. Carswell completed his legal education at the Walter F. George School of Law of Mercer University in 1948. Griffin B. Bell, 72nd Attorney General of the United States, was a classmate at Mercer.

Carswell served as a private attorney in Tallahassee, Florida, from 1948 to 1953 and as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida from 1953 to 1958. In 1958, he was nominated and confirmed as a judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida. In 1969, he was nominated and confirmed as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

upreme court nomination

On January 19, 1970, after Clement Haynsworth was rejected by the U.S. Senate for an appointment to the United States Supreme Court, President Richard Nixon nominated Carswell to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court to replace liberal Justice Abe Fortas. Carswell was praised by Southern Senators including Richard B. Russell, Jr., but was criticized by others for the high reversal rate (58%) of his decisions as a District Court Judge. Civil-rights advocates also questioned his civil rights record; in 1948, Carswell had voiced support for racial segregation while running for a seat in the Georgia state legislature (in his hometown, Irwinton, Georgia; Carswell did not win the election and moved to Florida where he started his career as a private attorney).

In defense against charges that Carswell was "mediocre", U.S. Senator Roman Hruska (Republican, Nebraska) stated, "Even if he is 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?" [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,942208,00.html http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,942208,00.html] ] [ [http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20051005-092022-5265r.htm http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20051005-092022-5265r.htm] ] That remark is believed to have backfired and 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. 17 Democrats and 28 Republicans voted for Carswell. 38 Democrats and 13 Republicans voted against him. President Richard Nixon accused Democrats of having an anti-Southern bias as a result. He then nominated Harry Blackmun to fill the Fortas vacancy. Blackmun was later easily confirmed.

Later years

Carswell resigned from the Court of Appeals on April 20, 1970, and entered the political arena. In 1970, he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the United States Senate from Florida, losing in the Republican Party primary by a large margin to U.S. Representative William Cramer, who went on to lose the general election to Democrat Lawton Chiles Fact|date=July 2008.

In 1976, Carswell was arrested and convicted of battery for advances he made to an undercover police officer in a Florida men's room; [Joyce Murdoch, Deb Price, "Courting Justice: Gay Men and Lesbians V. the Supreme Court" (2002) p. 187.] some claim him as the first homosexual or bisexual nominated to the Supreme Court. [Keith Stern, "Queers in History" (2006), p. 84 (stating of Carswell, "He's the only known homosexual to have been nominated to the Supreme Court, though he was in the closet"); John Wesley Dean, "The Rehnquist Choice: The Untold Story of the Nixon Appointment That Redefined the Supreme Court" (2001) p. 20.] Carswell subsequently withdrew from public life.Fact|date=July 2008 He returned to the private practice of law and then lived in retirement until his death.

ee also

*Clement Haynsworth - Carswell is occasionally confused with Clement Haynsworth, another unsuccessful Supreme Court nominee. President Nixon initially nominated Haynsworth to replace Justice Abe Fortas. The Senate refused to confirm the nomination. President Nixon then selected Carswell for the same vacancy.
*Unsuccessful nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States

References