Jackhammered by Bethune Ed

Author:Bethune, Ed [Bethune, Ed]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2011-11-16T04:30:00+00:00

18

ALMOST A JUDGE

For everything you have missed, you have gained something else

and for everything you gain, you lose something.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

In early 1976, President Gerald Ford nominated me to be a federal district court judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas. At the time it was standard practice for the American Bar Association (ABA) to conduct a background investigation of all nominees, and if a nominee was declared unqualified or the bar association failed to make a recommendation, the nomination was dead on arrival in the United States Senate. Liberals, mostly Democrats, dominated the ABA investigative committee. I was rated “A v,” the highest rating a lawyer can get in the Martindale-Hubbell legal directory, but there was still some concern that the committee might torpedo my nomination. Those fears were unfounded. My overall record was good and I had worked hard to promote the American Bar Association Standards for Criminal Justice in Arkansas and all across the country. The committee gave me a “qualified” rating. My fate was in the hands of the United States Senate, controlled by Democrats.

I had worked with Senator John McClellan when I chaired the Criminal Code Revision Commission. He asked me to come see him in Washington, D. C., and when we met, he told me that he appreciated what I had done to upgrade the criminal process and that he intended to fully support my nomination. Senator Dale Bumpers, our junior senator, would not declare whether he was going to support me or not. The nomination languished as the 1976 presidential campaign—Jimmy Carter versus Gerald Ford—heated up. Soon it was apparent that Dale Bumpers was delaying the confirmation process, and finally he admitted he was holding it up until after the presidential election. If Ford won, the Senate would confirm me, but if Carter won, he would select a new nominee.

My law practice suffered during the waiting period. For the best part of 1976, prospective clients took their business else-where; after all, I was about to become a federal judge. There were several news stories about my nomination during the presidential campaign. Political observers were saying I, if confirmed, would be one of the youngest, if not the youngest federal judge in the country. Lana did not care about setting such records. On the contrary, she was concerned that the judgeship would not be a good thing for me. She kept telling me, “If you get it you might become a pontifical son of a bitch, like all the rest of them.” Her concern was premature. President Ford lost the presidency to Jimmy Carter and my nomination to be a federal judge died on the vine.

We received hundreds of calls and letters from people who felt I had gotten a raw deal and that it was uncharacteristic for Bumpers to do what he did. I appreciated their support, but I never saw it that way. Dale Bumpers did a partisan thing, but it was well within his prerogative as a United States senator.

Once again I buried myself in my law practice.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.