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Volume 2, Number 1
REHNQUIST CONFIRM: NEGATIVE VOTES SET RECORD
On September 17, 1986, by a vote of 65-33 the Senate confirmed President Reagan's nomination of William H. Rehnquist to be Chief Justice of the United States. The confirmation vote occurred hours after the Senate voted 68-31 to invoke cloture, thus limiting debate on the nomination.
The Rehnquist nomination received the most negative votes of any successful Supreme Court nominee in this century. (Rehnquist holds second place also, for the 26 negative votes cast when he was first nominated to the court in 1971.) Opponents of the nomination had hoped that Rehnquist's record on the rights of women and minorities, as well as questions about his credibility and ethics would galvanize senatorial and public opposition to the nomination. While a majority of the American public became convinced that Rehnquist should not be confirmed (58% of those surveyed by a Harris Poll thought that the President should withdraw or the Senate should vote down the nomination), the civil rights community was not able to persuade the necessary number of Senators to vote against the nomination.
The confirmation of Rehnquist seems to have turned on the fact that many Senators believe that great deference is owed the President in nominations despite the Senate's advise and consent role, and that to reject a sitting Supreme Court justice would be tantamount to impeachment. Rejection of a sitting justice, it was argued, would hurt the integrity of the Court, and undermine its effectiveness. Opponents of the nomination sought unsuccessfully to convince troubled Senators that the President and the Senate share an equal role in the nomination process.
The Senate's concern over voting against a sitting judge resulted in the nominee for Chief Justice being held to a lower standard than a nominee to the district court. Civil rights leaders had argued that the nominee for Chief Justice should be judged against the highest standards: a thorough understanding of constitutional law, an unshakable commitment to the principles of equal justice, impeccable judgment on matters of ethics, and unquestioned credibility.
The August CIVIL RIGHTS MONITOR contained a discussion of issues raised during the hearings. Additional concerns that surfaced after the hearings are summarized below.
  
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