Reel

WETA logo and PBS funding credit. Show introduction, host Hodding Carter. U.S. President Ronald Reagan delivering national address, boasting that his administration will have appointed 45% of all federal justices at the end of his second term. Confirmation hearings of U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist as Chief Justice: U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) questioning Judge Rehnquist. Back in studio, Hodding Carter introduces show and guest discussion panel.

Show host Hodding Carter delivers opening monologue about U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist’s confirmation hearings. U.S. Senator Howard Metzbaum (D-OH) states the committee's intent of investigating whether or not Justice Rehnquist lied in his 1971 Supreme Court confirmation hearings. U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) questions Justice Rehnquist about his past job as a poll watcher in Arizona. Senator Kennedy questions Rehnquist about a memo he wrote to former Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson in 1952 supporting the old racial doctrine of "separate but equal." Justice Rehnquist responds he was writing about Jackson's opinion on the matter. U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) questions Justice Rehnquist about a clause in the deed for his home that the property should not be sold to any member of the "Hebrew race." Justice Rehnquist states he was not aware of that until recently.

In studio, host Hodding Carter talks about the Rehnquist hearings with panel: Lyle Denniston of the Baltimore Sun; Steve Roberts of the New York Times; and Kevin Phillips of the American Political Report. Carter asks Denniston how seriously should the integrity question be viewed by those who are not partisan. Denniston says the most important issue that has been brought up. Roberts believes the hearings have “knicked him up a bit” but it won’t pose a major problem for Justice William Rehnquist going forward. Phillips thinks the issues of his time as a poll watcher and the language in his house deed are small matters that were a product of their time. Hodding asks if the integrity concern will derail his nomination for Chief Justice. Denniston thinks it is the only issue that can trip up Justice Rehnquist, who has great momentum behind him. Roberts notes that the hearings are unusual for someone who has to come back, midterm, a second time, but this allows for a thorough review in a different political environment. Carter wonders if this is over before it began. Denniston won’t go that far given how long the hearing last and the possibility of undecided Senators being persuaded to vote against. That being said, the confirmation appears as though it will go through.

Show host Hodding Carter moves on to another issue surrounding the confirmation hearings: whether Justice William Rehnquist’s views are too extreme for him to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) on the first day of the confirmation hearings, expresses his disapproval of Rehnquist's nomination on the basis of Justice Rehnquist's political extremity, citing examples. U.S. Senator Paul Laxalt (R-NV) has Justice Rehnquist confirm he is bias-free and differs only ideologically from others in his view of the 14th amendment regarding women's and civil rights.

At the confirmation hearings of William Rehnquist as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Clarence Mitchell III of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators says Rehnquist is racist and misogynist. U.S. Representative Ted Weiss (D-NY), President of American for Democratic Action, says Justice Rehnquist's ideology distorts his decisions. Eleanor Smeal, President of the National Organization of Women, passionately disproves of labeling Justice Rehnquist merely conservative; she believes he is reactionary and pursues a literal reading of the Constitution which excludes the recognition of equal rights for women. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) defends Justice Rehnquist against the charge that he is extremist.

Show host Hodding Carter and panel-- Lyle Denniston of the Baltimore Sun, Steve Roberts of the New York Times, and Kevin Phillips of the American Political Report-- talk about latest round of questioning the views of Justice William Rehnquist. Carter asks Phillips if this questioning is fair game. Phillips believes they are fair in context, pushing across the point that as Chief Justice, Rehnquist will have to practice moderation. In the context of making him out to be the devil, the questions are unfair. Roberts thinks personal ideology is a fair standard to base questions from, but the President won the election and is free to nominate those who share his ideology. Therefore, Democrats are trying to point out that it is one thing to be conservative and another to hold extremist views. Denniston sees the line drawn differently, between Justice Rehquist holding an extremist approach towards the Constitution, which Denniston thinks he does, and whether Justice Rehnquist is a racist. If you can prove he is a bigot or racist, then you may be able to defeat his nomination. Carter asks who has been defeated on purely ideological grounds. Phillips says that is the problem, that you cannot define bigotry apart from ideology and philosophy. It’s one thing to find actions of bigotry; that can be used and acted upon, but what is written in a clause on a deed to a home is not enough to go on. Carter and Denniston agree that all the evidence and memos presented to this point do not pose any credible threat to Justice Rehnquist’s nomination.

Show host Hodding Carter asks panelists Lyle Denniston of the Baltimore Sun, Steve Roberts of the New York Times, and Kevin Phillips of the American Political Report if they agree that Democrats are laying down heavy markers for this hearing that will carry forward to future nominations. Roberts agrees with Phillips in that the next Supreme Court nomination is the one Democrats have their eyes affixed on and are using this hearing to send a message to Rehnquist, the Justice Department, and President Reagan that the standards for future nominees will be raised with a priority on moderation.

Show host Hodding Carter proceeds to the third issue centering around procedure: when, if ever, should the Senate substitute its judgement for the President’s. U.S. Senator Howard Metzenbaum (D-OH) in a long statement at the confirmation hearings says in supporting Justice Rehnquist one is supporting a repeal of "basic constitutional values." U.S. Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY) gives a long statement about the scrutiny that Justice William Rehnquist has fallen under in the confirmation hearings. U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) speaks of the serious Constitutional job facing the Senate in confirming a justice appointment.

U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and other Senators on the committee skirmish over who has the right to question the witness. U.S. Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) says questioning should be kept to a limit, as many more witnesses are waiting to appear before the committee. Senators Hatch (R-UT) and Howard Metzenbaum (D-OH) go back and forth, arguing over time constraints and editorializing.

Show host Hodding Carter and panel-- Lyle Denniston of the Baltimore Sun, Steve Roberts of the New York Times, and Kevin Phillips of the American Political Report-- talk about the politics and constitutionality of rejecting a Supreme Court Justice nominee. Roberts affirms the Senate's right to give nominees a yea or nay vote, but emphasizes that noms are more than just members of a President’s team or cabinet members-- they are part of an entirely different dimension and so the “advise and consent” aspect takes on new meaning. Carter asks why all but four judicial nominees in the past five years have passed with a simple voice vote. Roberts says there has been a presumption of competence, decency, and honesty, coupled with President Reagan being given a wide berth. Denniston believes the Senate feels embarrassed to veto a potential Presidential nominee. Phillips thinks this is just a period in time, as there have been others where the Senate gets “wound up” and pushes back a little harder than usual. Carter notes such occasions as during the New Deal era and Watergate scandal. Phillips attributes those eras and this one to moments when the Senate senses a political era trying to entrench or buck the current clime, similar to a political life cycle. Roberts talks about the argument surrounding a political mandate following a Presidential victory, but is cut off by Carter who has to move on to the final issue.

During the confirmation hearings of William Rehnquist as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, U.S. Senator Jeremiah Denton (AL-R) criticizes the liberal's politically motivated "stone-walling" of Justice Rehnquist's nomination. U.S. Senator Paul Simon (D-IL) condemns the charge of partisanship and provides evidence to the contrary. U.S. President Ronald Reagan in an address to the Knights of Columbus from the Oval Office, says his stacking of the courts will allow progress to be made on the issues of "abortion, crime and pornography." President Reagan also says his justice appointees will make up 45% of the federal justices by the end of his term.

Show host Hodding Carter and the panel-- Lyle Denniston of the Baltimore Sun, Steve Roberts of the New York Times, and Kevin Phillips of the American Political Report-- talk about the outcome of the Rehnquist appointment. All agree Justice Rehnquist's nomination will go through. Roberts believes this nomination has set important benchmarks and that politicization of judicial nominations is underway. Phillips thinks mid-term elections and the possibility of Democrats regaining control of the Senate will slow down the court makeover. All agree Rehnquist's nomination will go through.

Show host Hodding Carter muses that not all Presidents have appointed like-minded justices, but U.S. President Ronald Reagan has a knack for find justices who cohere with his beliefs. Lyle Denniston of the Baltimore Sun says the President is being smart by appointing young judges with clear records of conservative orientations. Steve Roberts of the New York Times remarks that political leaning and ideologies change with time, considering the most liberal member of the current Court was first appointed by U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower. Denniston provides the example of Sandra Day O’Connor as someone who was appointed at a relatively young age, was predicted to be conservative, and has since slowly moved to the center on certain issues she previously never dealt with. Kevin Phillips of the American Political Report agrees that the higher courts can be more unpredictable, but the lower courts have a track record of being more predictable.

Show host Hodding Carter thanks his guests and closes out show. End credits roll. PBS funding credits.