Orrin Hatch Gets Angry & Ted Kennedy Requests Recess - Clarence Thomas 2nd Hearing Part 6 (1991)

October 11, 1991 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CP1UMO?ie=UTF8&tag=doc06-20&link... Watch the full program: http://thefilmarchived.blogspot.com/2010/10/clarence-thomas-2nd-hearing-featu...

In June 1989, President George H. W. Bush appointed Thomas to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, despite Thomas's initial protestations that he would not like to be a judge. Thomas gained the support of other African Americans such as former Transportation Secretary William Coleman, but said that when meeting white Democratic staffers in the United States Senate, he was "struck by how easy it had become for sanctimonious whites to accuse a black man of not caring about civil rights."

Thomas's confirmation hearing was uneventful. He developed warm relationships during his 19 months on the federal court, including with fellow federal judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

When Justice William Brennan stepped down in 1990, Bush wanted to nominate Thomas as Brennan's replacement since he felt that replacing Thurgood Marshall—who was expected to be retiring soon—with Thomas could be perceived as a race-based appointment. However, Bush decided that Thomas had not yet had enough experience as a judge, having served only several months on the federal bench. Bush therefore nominated Judge David Souter of the First Circuit instead.

After the appointment of David Souter and the ensuing disappointment of conservatives, White House chief of staff John H. Sununu promised that the president would fill the next Supreme Court vacancy with a "true conservative" and predicted a "knock-down, drag-out, bloody-knuckles, grass-roots fight" over confirmation. On July 1, 1991 President Bush nominated Clarence Thomas to replace Thurgood Marshall, who had recently announced his retirement. Marshall had been the only African-American justice on the Court. Legal author Jeffrey Toobin says Bush and others saw Thomas as the only "plausible" black candidate who would provide a reliably conservative vote.

President Bush said that Thomas was the "best qualified [nominee] at this time." The American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary rated Thomas "qualified" by a vote of 13 to 2. Reagan nominee Robert Bork received twice as many "not qualified" votes as Thomas. However, the ABA rating of Thomas was the least favorable of any confirmed Supreme Court nominee dating back to the Eisenhower administration (most nominees receive unanimous "well qualified" evaluations). Thomas had never argued a case in the high courts, though others have also been appointed without Supreme Court oral argument experience, and prior to Thomas, forty Supreme Court justices had been appointed without any prior judicial service (though none have since). Thomas had never written a legal book, article, or brief of consequence, and had been a judge for only a year.

Organizations including the NAACP, the Urban League and the National Organization for Women opposed the appointment based on Thomas's criticism of affirmative action and suspicions that Thomas might not be a supporter of the Supreme Court judgment in Roe v. Wade; NOW and the NAACP had also protested Bush's previous Court appointee, David Souter. Under questioning during confirmation hearings, Thomas repeatedly asserted that he had not formulated a position on the Roe decision.

Some of the public statements of Thomas's opponents foreshadowed the confirmation fight that would occur. One such statement came from activist Florynce Kennedy at a July 1991 conference of the National Organization for Women in New York City. Referring to the failure of Ronald Reagan's nomination of Robert Bork, she said of Thomas, "We're going to 'bork' him." The liberal campaign to defeat the Bork nomination served as a model for liberal interest groups opposing Thomas. Likewise, in view of what had happened to Bork, Thomas's confirmation hearings were also approached as a political campaign by the White House and Senate Republicans.

Clarence Thomas's formal confirmation hearings began on September 10, 1991. Thomas was reticent when answering Senators' questions during the appointment process. Four years earlier, Robert Bork, a law professor, had expounded on his judicial philosophy during his confirmation, and he had been refused confirmation. Whereas Thomas's earlier writings had frequently referenced the legal theory of natural law, during his confirmation hearings Thomas limited himself to the statement that he regards natural law as a "philosophical background" to the Constitution. Thomas himself later asserted in his autobiography that in the course of his professional career, he had not developed a judicial philosophy.

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[bradymusic27]

I think the media only likes black people if they're democrats. Look at Thomas, look at Cain. It's pretty ridiculous.

[kaewonf8]

Truly one of the most outrageous episodes in recent memory of the Senate. Dems couldn't stand that a conservative was going to replace Thurgood Marshall, so they put a hit out on him, courtesy of Anita Hill, abetted by Kennedy and a supine Joe Biden. Disgusting.

[JohnBoy918]

@bradymusic27 I agree.

[JohnBoy918]

This was hilarious.

[mlc2005]

I'm not a fan of Clarence Thomas, that's for sure, but I have to say that it defies logic to see Senator Kennedy (for all the good work he did later in life) sitting on that committee, judging another man's conduct; have we all not forgotten the fact that Kennedy literally left a girl to drown in his car after he wrecked it during a drunk driving episode?? Seriously, he should have recused himself.

[dsnfldgfds]

She should drink Pepsi rather than Coke

[TallRingo]

@DillonDee1 Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the worst, and those like her. Thomas has been consistent, and principled. This hearing was a sham. Your ignorance is noted, and dismissed. Good day, sir.

[writersblock26]

Thank you for posting this, thefilmarchive.

[DillonDee1]

This pervert is the worst SC Justice in USA history

[MrBullfrog9876]

Democrats worried about sexual harrasment?!! LOL! Dont tell me that they have a touch of hypocracy like Republicans?