Word: morrisseys
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...Robert Kennedy had borrowed a colleague's seat for a better view of the action. The chamber was unusually still as Massachusetts' tall, blue-suited junior Senator rose to speak. "The question before the Senate," Edward Kennedy began, "is the confirmation of the appointment of Francis X. Morrissey as Judge of the United States Court for the District of Massachusetts...
...next 20 minutes Teddy repeated his familiar dithyramb to the Kennedys' longtime political handyman. Swallowing heavily, Senator Kennedy, 33, came close to tears as he traced Frank Morrissey's career back half a century to the days when he was one of twelve children in a family so poor that their shoes were "held together with wooden pegs their father made." Chastising the American Bar Association and other professional groups that opposed Morrissey's nomination to the federal bench-they said he was the least qualified candidate in memory-Kennedy charged that their objections were rooted...
Then, striving for a climax worthy of Profiles in Courage, Teddy finished his eulogy, paused, and declared: "I therefore ask unanimous consent that nomination of Francis Morrissey be recommitted to the Committee on the Judiciary." Thus, he effectively killed Frank Morrissey's chances of a $30,000-a-year lifetime federal judgeship, at least for now, and probably forever...
...unreality deepened when Albert Jenner, present chairman of the same committee, disclosed that in 1933 Morrissey went to Georgia, where it was then possible for a resident to gain admission to the bar without an examination. Morrissey, then 23, had already dropped out of law school in Massachusetts, had a try at the bar exam nonetheless, and failed it. In Athens, Morrissey obtained a Georgia diploma from a two-man outfit, now defunct, called the Southern Law School. Jenner called it a "diploma mill." Armed with this credential and testimonials from both of his teachers, Morrissey was admitted to practice...
...near as we can determine," Jenner concluded, "Morrissey returned to Boston either the night of the 8th or the morning of the 9th of September." Illinois' Senator Everett Dirksen observed: "If you allege that you live in one state for the purpose of being admitted to the bar, and you're not [a resident]-there's a rather unpleasant word for that. It bothers me." Oddly enough, Morrissey, the Justice Department and Teddy Kennedy's office had all neglected to inform the Judiciary Committee of Morrissey's educational foray in Georgia...