George Harrold Carswell

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American judge

George Harrold Carswell (December 22, 1919 – July 13, 1992) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida . He was also an unsuccessful nominee to the United States Supreme Court in 1970.

Education and career

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Carswell was born in Irwinton , Wilkinson County , Georgia . He graduated from Duke University with an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1941 and briefly attended the University of Georgia School of Law before joining the United States Navy at the beginning of World War II . Carswell did six months of postgraduate work at the United States Naval Academy and served in the Pacific aboard the heavy cruiser USS Baltimore (CA-68) as a lieutenant in the United States Naval Reserve ; he was discharged in 1945 (when the war ended). Carswell graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University in 1948. Griffin Bell , 72nd Attorney General of the United States , was one of Carswell's classmates at Mercer. Carswell unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the Georgia legislature in the fall of 1948. He then moved to Tallahassee , Florida , where he worked as a private attorney from 1948 to 1953. In 1953, he was appointed United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida by President Dwight D. Eisenhower ; Carswell served in this position until 1958.

Personal life

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Carswell married his wife Virginia (née Simmons) in 1944.

Federal judicial service

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Carswell was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on March 6, 1958, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida vacated by Judge Dozier A. DeVane . He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 31, 1958, and received his commission on April 10, 1958. He served as Chief Judge from 1958 to 1969. His service terminated on June 27, 1969, due to his elevation to the Fifth Circuit.

Carswell was nominated by President Richard Nixon on May 12, 1969, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit , to a new seat authorized by 82 Stat. 184. He was confirmed by the Senate on June 19, 1969, and received his commission on June 20, 1969. His service terminated on April 20, 1970, due to his resignation.

Supreme Court nomination

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On January 19, 1970, President Nixon nominated Carswell to be an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court to replace Abe Fortas , who had resigned in May 1969. Nixon had earlier nominated Clement Haynsworth to succeed Fortas, but the nomination was rejected by the U.S. Senate.

The Senate Judiciary Committee opened hearings on the nomination eight days after Nixon made the announcement; and the president anticipated that the nomination would proceed smoothly. Before they began, however, the press uncovered a speech delivered by Carswell during his unsuccessful Georgia legislative bid in 1948 that espoused the principles of white supremacy . In the August 2, 1948 speech to the American Legion chapter at Gordon, Georgia , he said:

I am Southern by ancestry, birth, training, inclination, belief and practice. And I believe that segregation of the races is proper and the only practical and correct way of life in our states. I have always so believed and I shall always so act.

I shall be the last to submit to any attempt on the part of anyone to break down and to weaken this firmly established policy of our people.

If my own brother were to advocate such a program, I would be compelled to take issue with him and to oppose him to the limit of my ability.

I yield to no man, as a fellow candidate or as a fellow citizen, in the firm, vigorous belief in the principles of white supremacy, and I shall always be so governed.

When the story broke, Carswell said "specifically and categorically, I renounce and reject the words themselves and the thought they represent; they are abhorrent." The NAACP , upon learning of Carswell's racist comments, declared their opposition to Carswell's nomination and asked that his appointment be rejected by the Senate. U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell , citing an extensive background check by the [Justice Department](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Justice "

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