Defeated Supreme Court Nominee Robert Bork Dead at 85

Former federal appeals judge and solicitor general Robert Bork, a divisive figure on the nation's legal landscape for decades, died today at age 85, according to his son Robert Jr. The cause was heart disease.

Nominated to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1987, Bork became a target for liberal groups who feared that as a justice, he would turn the clock back on a range of issues including abortion and civil rights. Though prior nominations were controversial, Bork's was viewed as a tipping point that led to contentious Supreme Court nominations ever since. After a massive lobbying campaign against him, the Senate defeated Bork's nomination to replace Lewis Powell Jr. by a 58-42 vote. Anthony Kennedy, who is still on the court, eventually was confirmed for the seat.

After losing the nomination Bork continued to write controversial books and articles from perches at the American Enterprise Institute and the Hudson Institute. As recently as last month's presidential election, Bork was an adviser on judicial nominations to Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Liberal groups needed to do little more than mention Bork's name to argue that his role meant Romney would appoint only strong conservatives to the Supreme Court. More on Bork later at nlj.com.

Comments

[Rick]

" he never deserved such personal vilification as he got".

It wasn't that bad...During Goodwin Liu's nomination process for 9th Circuit, Senator Grassley compared him to Mao Tse-Tung, a bizarre comparison im still trying to comprehend...No one compared Bork to a dictator or Communist leader...Honestly, Kennedy's speech of him (Bork's America) was pretty much spot on what a Bork confirmation would have meant...

To Cody, i was joking about it being a positive for conservatives about Botk's nomination being defeated..I do find it amusing that HAD he been on the court, he might have been replaced with a Pam Karlan, Caitlin Halligan, Diane Wood, Harold Koh, etc...

[Avon]

Bork is an example of a brilliant and heartfelt lawyer whose ideology often (not always) flirted with the extreme, whose verbal expressions often (far from always) tended to offend, who loved debate, and whose self-confidence and stubbornness could make for a strong Justice yet a controversial candidate for nomination.

In short, he was a highly plausible yet utterly doomed nominee. I'm glad he didn't join the Court, but he never deserved such personal vilification as he got.

[Joseph Cody]

@Rick
Ah, the twisted logic of conservatives. Remember that Kennedy, Bork's replacement, has been more liberal than Bork would have ever been, so how his defeat could be regarded as a positive (for conservatives) beats me.

[David Van Taylor]

Interestingly enough, though the NYTimes obit got a lot of things right, they started with a faulty premise, or at least a misleading statement: "It is rare for the Senate in its constitutional 'advice and consent' role to turn down a president’s Supreme Court nominee ..."

In fact 20-25% of all Supreme Court nominees have been rejected by the Senate, a statistic that has remained roughly steady since the beginning of this republic. "Advice and consent" was a hard-won and meaningful compromise among the Founders; it was never intended to be a rubber-stamp. Something everyone should remember, especially those who, like Bork, want to adhere to "original intent."

Anyone interested in confirmation politics should check out my feature documentary ADVISE & DISSENT. Available on iTunes, Amazon, Netlifx, and YouTube. More info at AdviseandDissent.com

[Rick]

Conservatives should look at his Supreme Court nomination defeat as a positive, if Bork WERE on the court, President Obama would be naming his replacement...