Bill Clinton Supreme Court candidates

On March 19, 1993, Associate Justice Byron White announced his retirement (and assumption of senior status), which ultimately took effect June 28, 1993.

[1] President Clinton announced Ruth Bader Ginsburg as White's replacement on June 15, 1993, and she was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 3, 1993.

[2] On April 6, 1994, Associate Justice Harry Blackmun announced his retirement (and assumption of senior status), which ultimately took effect August 3, 1994.

[5] In an interview on June 18, 1992, Clinton said, "I don't believe in the litmus test for Supreme Court judges, but I do think that the Court has been so politicized by the recent appointments under the last two presidents that we ought to appoint someone who can provide some balance; someone who everybody will say, 'There is someone who can be a great judge and someone who believes in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and protecting the rights of ordinary citizens to be let alone from undue intrusion by their government.

"[6] After Byron White announced his retirement on March 19, 1993, Clinton began a weeks-long journey through consideration of an unusually large number of candidates.

Liberal lawyers wanted Harvard Law professor and constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe, but Clinton and his aides next considered several candidates as "outside-the-box" choices.

George Stephanopoulos, a Clinton aide at the time, writes that the idea was dropped because the president's "choice had to be ratified by the Senate, where Republicans hadn't forgotten the rejection of Robert Bork, and Democrats were reeling from their recent encounters with Zoe Baird, Kimba Wood, and Lani Guinier.

He then weighed Sixth Circuit judge Gilbert S. Merritt, who was a family friend of Vice President Al Gore.

Clinton then asked his staff about Janie Shores, who had been the first woman to serve on the Alabama Supreme Court but who was not well known in Washington, D.C. legal circles.

"You are not nominating Janie Shores to the Supreme Court", White House counsel Bernard W. Nussbaum told Clinton.

"[7][8] In addition, Ginsburg was noted as moderate-to-conservative on criminal matters and had a different rationale for supporting Roe v. Wade than most liberals: she considered laws banning abortion a form of sex discrimination rather than a violation of privacy.

[10] Senators Jesse Helms (R-NC), Don Nickles (R-OK) and Bob Smith (R-NH) voted against the nomination.

[6] At that point, Clinton again considered Arnold, who had been recommended by over 100 federal judges in a joint letter written after Blackmun had retired.

[4][6][11] Senators Conrad Burns (R-MT), Dan Coats (R-IN), Paul Coverdell (R-GA), Jesse Helms (R-NC), Trent Lott (R-MS), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Frank Murkowski (R-AK), Don Nickles (R-OK), and Bob Smith (R-NH) voted against the nomination.

Senators David Durenberger (R-MN), Bob Graham (D-FL), Claiborne Pell (D-RI) and Malcolm Wallop (R-WY) did not vote.