Word: bork
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...little was known about his views. But other questioners commented on the variety of his experience -- as attorney general, trial judge, state supreme court justice, federal appeals court judge -- and the ample record, including 220 state supreme court opinions, that was available for scrutiny. Unlike failed nominee Robert Bork, however, Souter had left behind no trail of speeches or law-review articles that might betray a strong ideological bent...
Comparisons with the contentious Bork hearings of 1987 were inevitable. Observed a committee Democrat: "Bork came before this committee with enough votes to be nominated. Then he got people mad. David Souter hasn't made that mistake." It was clear after the first few hours of testimony that he almost certainly would not. Biden, at one point, seemed to acknowledge that confirmation was a foregone conclusion when he referred to the "eight Justices, whom you'll be joining." The chairman saw no need to qualify this declaration...
...another matter. Some Senators believe he could deny a constitutional right to privacy and still prevail, provided his reported respect for precedent convinces the Senate he might leave Roe alone anyway. If that is indeed the message Souter wishes to convey, he could do worse than borrow from Robert Bork. "Many court results decided incorrectly have been left in place because tearing them up would create chaos," says Bork...
Would such a stance wash? Perhaps, but "the stakes are much higher this time," says Senator Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican whose opposition doomed Bork's 1987 court nomination. "Bork's vote to overturn Roe would not have made the difference. Souter's would...
...have come -- or fallen. The struggle over Robert Bork turned court nominations into a savage political battleground. "Every faction wants its own little government in the court," sighed one White House strategist last week. The Democratic Congress, so long denied Executive power, and the Republican White House, so long thwarted in Legislative matters, both seek the balance of power through the Supreme Court. Washington has 55,000 lawyers, 7,000 lobbyists, 20,000 congressional staff members and some 10,000 journalists. Most of them are self-appointed experts on the court. They produce interesting noise, no discernible national harmony...