Nation: A Friend in Court

Federal District Court Judge Homer Thornberry was one man who profoundly sympathized with Judge Clement Haynsworth after the Senate rejected the South Carolinian for the Supreme Court. In a sense, Thornberry had been there himself. Lyndon Johnson nominated him to replace Justice Abe Fortas on the theory that Fortas would be moving up to Chief Justice on Earl Warren’s retirement. Thornberry is depressed by Haynsworth’s rejection. “Haynsworth was unacceptable because he is a conservative Southerner,” Thornberry tells friends in Texas, “not because he’s unethical.” Then he adds: “The fight is gone from the Senate now, so they’ll likely confirm anyone.”