Clement Furman Haynsworth Jr. (October 30, 1912 – November 22, 1989) was a
United States circuit judge
In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. Cou ...
of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:
* District of Maryla ...
. He was also an
unsuccessful nominee for the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
in 1969.
Education and career
Born on October 30, 1912, in
Greenville,
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
, Haynsworth received an
Artium Baccalaureus
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
degree in 1933 from
Furman University
Furman University is a private liberal arts university in Greenville, South Carolina. Founded in 1826 and named for the clergyman Richard Furman, Furman University is the oldest private institution of higher learning in South Carolina. It became ...
and a
Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
in 1936 from
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
. He entered private practice in Greenville from 1936 to 1942. He served in the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
from 1942 to 1945. He returned to private practice in Greenville from 1945 to 1957.
Federal judicial service
Haynsworth was nominated by President
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
on February 19, 1957, to a seat on the
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:
* District of Maryla ...
vacated by Judge
Armistead Mason Dobie
Armistead Mason Dobie (April 15, 1881 – August 7, 1962) was a law professor, Dean of the University of Virginia School of Law, United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and United States District J ...
. He was confirmed by the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
on April 4, 1957, and received commission the same day. He served as Chief Judge and a member of the
Judicial Conference of the United States
The Judicial Conference of the United States, formerly known as the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges, was created by the United States Congress in 1922 with the principal objective of framing policy guidelines for administration of judicial cour ...
from 1964 to 1981. He assumed
senior status
Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...
on April 6, 1981 until his death on November 22, 1989 in Greenville, South Carolina.
Unsuccessful Supreme Court nomination
![New Orleans - Tulane U Jambalaya 1970 - Judge Haynsworth Protester](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/New_Orleans_-_Tulane_U_Jambalaya_1970_-_Judge_Haynsworth_Protester.jpg)
On August 21, 1969, President
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
nominated Haynsworth to be an associate justice of the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
.
He was proposed to succeed associate justice
Abe Fortas
Abraham Fortas (June 19, 1910 – April 5, 1982) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1965 to 1969. Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Fortas graduated from Rhod ...
, who had resigned over conflict of interest charges.
Haynsworth was opposed by a coalition of
Democrats (possibly in retaliation for the Republicans' rejection of Fortas as Chief Justice),
Rockefeller Republicans
The Rockefeller Republicans were members of the Republican Party (GOP) in the 1930s–1970s who held moderate-to-liberal views on domestic issues, similar to those of Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York (1959–1973) and Vice President of ...
, and the
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
. He was alleged to have made court decisions favoring
segregation Segregation may refer to:
Separation of people
* Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space
* School segregation
* Housing segregation
* Racial segregation, separation of humans ...
and of being reflexively anti-labor. Democratic
United States Senator
The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...
Philip Hart
Philip Aloysius Hart (December 10, 1912December 26, 1976) was an American lawyer and politician. A Democrat, he served as a United States Senator from Michigan from 1959 until his death from cancer in Washington, D.C. in 1976. He was known as t ...
said that Haynsworth's decisions on
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...
and labor/management were "unacceptable," while Republican Senator
Marlow Cook
Marlow Webster Cook (July 27, 1926 – February 4, 2016) was an American politician who served Kentucky in the United States Senate from his appointment in December 1968 to his resignation in December 1974. He was a moderate Republican.
He ...
argued that Haynsworth was being "subjected to a character assassination that is unjustified." Cook argued that Haynsworth was "a man of honesty and a man of integrity".
Controversy erupted over his rulings affirming the decision by local authorities to close the
Prince Edward County schools to avoid integration, upholding the constitutionality of school voucher programs used to fund segregated private schools and supporting the management of the
Darlington Manufacturing Company in South Carolina over its closing of the factory allegedly over unionisation.
Haynsworth was also accused of ruling in cases in which he had a financial interest, although this claim was never proved.
On October 9, 1969, after seven days of testimony the previous month, the Senate judiciary Committee voted 10–7 to report the nomination to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation. Haynsworth's nomination was defeated by a 55–45 vote on November 21, 1969.
[ Nineteen Democrats – of whom only ]Mike Gravel
Maurice Robert "Mike" Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician and writer who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who later in life twice ran for ...
of Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
represented a state outside the South – and 26 Republicans voted for Haynsworth while 38 Democrats and seventeen Republicans voted against the nomination. Haynsworth was the first Supreme Court nominee to be defeated by the Senate since the rejection of Judge John J. Parker
John Johnston Parker (November 20, 1885 – March 17, 1958) was an American politician and United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He was an unsuccessful nominee for associate justice of the Unite ...
(also of the Fourth Circuit) in 1930. Nixon then nominated G. Harrold Carswell
George Harrold Carswell (December 22, 1919 – July 13, 1992) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern Di ...
, who was also rejected by the Senate. Nixon eventually turned to Harry Blackmun
Harry Andrew Blackmun (November 12, 1908 – March 4, 1999) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1970 to 1994. Appointed by Republican President Richard Nixon, Blac ...
, who was confirmed by the Senate.
Honor
The Clement F. Haynsworth Jr. Federal Building in Greenville was renamed in his honor.
Notes
References
Sources
*
External links
Ron Schuler's Parlour Tricks: Clement Haynesworth
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haynsworth, Clement
1912 births
1989 deaths
20th-century American judges
United States Navy personnel of World War II
Furman University alumni
Harvard Law School alumni
Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
United States court of appeals judges appointed by Dwight D. Eisenhower
Unsuccessful nominees to the United States Supreme Court
People from Greenville, South Carolina