Today, the image of a President’s Supreme Court nominee sitting before the Senate Judiciary Committee to be grilled about his or her views is familiar. But for the first 127 years of the Supreme Court’s history, the Senate did not hold first public confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominees. It wasn’t until President Woodrow Wilson nominated Louis Brandeis to the Supreme Court in 1916–just over a hundred years ago–that the Senate would hold public hearings for the first time. Check out this #CourtingHistory thread to learn more about Brandeis and his historic confirmation hearings before the U.S. Senate.
For the first 127 years of the US Supreme Court, the Senate did not hold public confirmation hearings for nominees. The first public hearing was held in 1916 for Pres. Woodrow Wilson's nominee, Louis D. Brandeis…#CourtingHistory pic.twitter.com/lImz5o3UAT
— Short Circuit (@ShortCircuit_IJ) September 10, 2018
3/ The brief focused on social science(?) arguments to defend the wisdom of the law's policies. For example, as @ProfDBernstein wrote in @GB2d, Brandeis argued that women have "more water" in their blood than men and this "inferiority" makes it dangerous for them to work 10+hours
— Short Circuit (@ShortCircuit_IJ) September 10, 2018
5/ Although he was a high-profile public interest lawyer, his #SCOTUS nomination was a "surprise" to many. Detractors challenged his views on economic regulations, his closeness to POTUS, & his aggressive lawyering… pic.twitter.com/Au9C6WgJl4
— Short Circuit (@ShortCircuit_IJ) September 10, 2018
7/ When some critics opposed him on religious, anti-Semitic grounds, defenders renounced those "narrow minded… out-of-date fanatics," and "foul, narrow Watsonian souls," and defended Brandeis's patriotism… pic.twitter.com/gdlImWgQLA
— Short Circuit (@ShortCircuit_IJ) September 10, 2018
9/ And, at the same time, there was tremendous enthusiasm from the Jewish community for the historic nomination. E.g. Rabbi Joseph Krauskopf of Philadelphia called the nomination "a master stroke"… pic.twitter.com/70kxeyuf7r
— Short Circuit (@ShortCircuit_IJ) September 10, 2018
11/ The opposition to Brandeis was led by a group of "Bostonians" represented by lawyer Austin Fox, who called witnesses, etc. related to 3 cases Brandeis worked on.. The Senate Committee that called the hearings seemed pretty fed up from the get-go… https://t.co/3TU1NRLnLD pic.twitter.com/OApehARGmB
— Short Circuit (@ShortCircuit_IJ) September 10, 2018
13/ And to learn more about Justice Brandeis, visit the Supreme Court Historical Society, https://t.co/HwgAqKvQDK and watch this lecture on his life & legacy over at C-SPAN: https://t.co/BDEMtKaHAS
— Short Circuit (@ShortCircuit_IJ) September 10, 2018
