The Regime Politics of Federal Judicial Selection - The American Bar Association and Federal Judicial Appointments in the 1960s South (original) (raw)

Abstract

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The paper analyzes the discrepancy between the civil rights agenda of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations and their actual selections of federal judges in the South during the 1960s. Despite the Democratic administrations' commitments to civil rights, they often appointed segregationist judges, which undermined their liberal judicial aims and their broader civil rights strategies. The analysis employs the regime politics framework to explore how federal courts were manipulated by governing coalitions and how their actions ultimately contradict the anticipated outcomes associated with judicial appointments.

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References (56)

  1. by President Ross L. Malone Jr., who as Deputy Attorney General authored the original agreement, the ABA passed a resolution in August 1959 reaffirming the importance of "qualified and independent judiciary." The following year, the ABA finally succeeded in receiving assurance of their commitment to this objective from candidates of both major parties. With the help of Illinois lawyer and prominent Republican Albert E. Jenner Jr., they even secured the insertion of the merit selection of judges as one of the planks of the 1960 Republican party platform. 109 Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy solemnly proclaimed to be guided by similar criteria in selecting federal judges. 110 Signing the Omnibus Judgeship Bill of 1961, President Kennedy publicly promised to appoint judges who would provide litigants with a "high standard of professional performance." 111
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