mthe wall
Carswell clobbered
Wednesday's rejection by the Senate of
Judge G. Harrold Carswell may be interpreted .
in many different ways, depending on which
bad quality in Carswell you like best. It could
be a decision by the Senate that, regardless
of Sen. Hruska's brilliant defense of Cars
well's mediocrity, ineptness has no place on
the highest court in the nation.
The rejection could be considered a sign
that not all the U.S. government has deserted
a commitment to civil rights. At least the
Senate has decided blatant white supremacists
should not sit on the Supreme Court.
Maybe the Senate, even southerners and
Republicans, decided nomination of Supreme
Court justices is no place for President Nixon
to pursue his "southern strategy." If that in
terpretation is valid, Nixon may either turn
to a judge of stature, North or South, or
nominate a former All-American football
player in hopes of easy confirmation. If in
valid, the U.S. may see the President turn to
someone qualified but solidly southern, say
Bull Connor.
The Senate and the people of the United
States will not accept a regression in judicial
interpretation just to achieve "philosophic
balance" on the Supreme Court. Hopefully,
President Nixon will realize this when he
nominates another justice. In the meantime,
thank you Roman Hruska. Even though you
voted for Carswell, your glibness and amaz
ing talent for accurate evaluation may have
defeated him.
Jim Pedersen
Loder reinstated
The Omaha personnel board last week
voted to reinstate James L. Loder to the
Omaha police force. Loder was dismissed last
June following the shooting of Vivian Strong,
14. Loder was charged with manslaughter but
recently acquitted. His reinstatement is the
last act of a bad play. Or is it the last act?
There are many questions which must be
asked about the Loder trial. Did the jury
judge Loder and the evidence presented on
the sole basis of the manslaughter charge,
i.e., was Vivian Strong killed through negli
gence without any malice by her assailant?
One juror said after the trial that was not
the primary consideration of the jury. The
juror said he and his colleagues were con
cerned that a conviction of Loder would be
interpreted as a conviction of the entire police
force and would inhibit Omaha police in doing
their duty.
How will Blacks react? How will they
feel about an acquittal and then reinstatement
on the police force of James Loder? One can
not expect them to feel anything short of bit
terness. How will the Omaha Police Depart
ment react? Will Omaha police adopt a Fear
less Fosdick shoot-'em-all-and you're-bound-to-hit-a-criminal
attitude, or will they continue
their immensely successful policy of fair, wise
and humane methods of police-Black com
munity relations?
Whatever the answers are to the above
quw&t, it is highly doubtful that the rein
statement of James Loder will convince the
Black community of Omaha that the police
man is their friend.
Jim Peucrsen
by CHUCK FAULKER
Of all the governing bodies,
ad hoc committees and
bureaucracies at the University
of Nebraska, the Student Bar
Association (SBA) most pro
bably has the worst reputation
for inaction and general in
ability. Leadership of the
organization has most often
been of the "elect-me-because-it-will-look-good-on-my-record"
variety.
As a result, the official at
titude of the SBA toward
educational innovation, student
involvement in decision-making
and lobbying for new law
school facilities has been
"that's nice, but what can we
do about it?"
THE OBVIOUS answer, of
course, is lead. Unfortunately,
the connotation for leading law
students for such changes rocks
the boat and this hasn't sat well
at all with those who would just
like to graduate into a good
middle-management job. They,
after all, have to protect their
recommendations and pass that
all-important Bar Exam.
Fortunately for the legal
profession this isn't the case at
many other schools. A good
example is Northeastern
University Law School in
Boston where student study,
planning and pressure has
created alternatives to the
case-study method in many
courses and an extensive legal
aid program, for the mutual
benefit of Boston's poor and the
Northeastern Students. Not all
efforts have been so extensive,
but clearly the nation's leading
law schools are moving in this
direction.
IF NOTHING else, law
students are making noises like
they want a serious re-evalua
tion of where legal education is
going in this country and that is
not a bad idea right here in
Nebraska.
This Tuesday SBA elected
John Lonnquist as its new
president. Lonnquist ran on the
slogan that "nothing ever gets
done until it gets started." If
this is any indication of his in
tentions then maybe Nebraska
Law School is in for a much
needed shock. Certainly no one
would contend his task will be
an easy one. Just breaking the
prevelant attitude among
students that SBA is powerless
may occupy all of next year.
ALMOST ANY kind of new
student participations
academic questions would be a
good starting point. Another
could be found in increased
student lobbying for a new law
school. Much could be done to
mobilize alumni support for
such a project as well as get
ting administrators to reorder
NU's building priorities.
The real test is yet to come,
so not much more can be said
except to wish Mr. Lonnquist
luck and hope he doesn't fall
victim to the strong forces or
disinterest left by his
predecessors.
POT
mil
our man hoppe
by ARTHUR HOPPE
News Item: The nomination of Judge Carswell to the
Supreme Court has not been confirmed by the Senate.
Look. Look and see. See Dick See Pat. They live In
a beautiful white house.
"Look, Dick," said Pat. "Look and see. See who is
at the door of our beautiful white house."
"YES, PAT," said Dick. "It is our friend. It is our
friend, Strom. We owe him a lot. He helped us move
into our beautiful white house. Come in, Strom."
See Strom. Strom looks angry. "Look, Dick," said Strom.
"I am angry. I am angry because you do not pay your
debts."
"Look, Strom," said Dick. "I have sent you two judges.
I thought they were good judges."
"LOOK, DICK," said Strom. "They were bad judges.
You tried to pay your debt with bad judges. You are
a welcher. You must send another judge."
"Let me be candid, Strom," said Dick. "Let me be
perfectly candid about this. I am running out of judges.
I am running out of Southern judges. I am running
out of Southern Republican judges. This is my judgement
on that."
"Look, Dick," said Strom. "Look here. You had better
think. You had better think of something." See Strom.
See Strom leave. He does not even say goodbye. See Pat.
See Pat cry.
"OH, DICK," said Pat. "Will Strom make us move
out of our beautiful white house?"
"No, Pat, he cannot. He cannot because we have a
four-year lease."
See Pat smile. "That is good, Dick," said Pat. "Let
us never see him again."
"We must, Pat," said Dick. "He is part of my strategy.
He Is part of my Southern strategy. He will help us renew
the lease in 1972. That is my strategy on this."
See Pat clap her hands. "I know, Dick," said Pat.
"Strom is Southern. Strom is Republican. Let us make
Strom a judge!"
See Dick. See Dick shudder. "That would make the
North unhappy, Pat." said Dick.
"THEN WE WILL make a Northerner a Judge, too,"
said Pat. "That will make the North happv."
"That would be awful, Pat. "There is only one vacancy.
That would be as awful as FDR trying to pack the court.
Packing the court is awful."
See Pat think. "Then why don't you unpack the court,
Dick? If you don't make another Judge, you won't make
anybody mad."
"That is an Idea, Pat," said Dick. "That is a good
idea. It will save money, too. I will have more money
to give to the mailmen. But how will I repay Strom?
"Give him money, too, Dick," said Pat "It would
be simpler."
SEE DICK frown. "That is a Joke, Pat. That !s an
old Joke. No, I must give Strom something that is Southern,
, something that Is good, something ..."
See Dick. See Dick snap his fingers. See Dick smile.
"Tell me, Pat," said Dick. "Would you miss our beautiful
white house in Key Biscayne?"
Carswell campaign:
No taste, respect
l . :
' ' 5 '
; ! v
' . ; t
by FRANK MANKIEWICZ
and TOM BRADEN
The White House campaign to put
Judge Harrold Carswell on the Supreme
Court will serve for some time as a
model of the Nixon style; The timing
was excellent, the pressures expertly
1 applied at the right places, the
mobilization of government almost com
plete (even the undersecretary of state
was in the act this week). All that
was lacking, to be sure, was good taste
and a respect for the Constitution.
First came what could best be
described as a pre-emptive briefing of
Republican senators. They were told
about Judge Carswell and in the
wake of the Clement Haynsworth em
barrassment were pleased to hear that
there was no conflict of interest in the
judge's background.
SO SENS. HUGH Scott and Robert
Triffin, ordinarily men extraordinarily
sensitive to the civil rights implications
of legislation and appointments, were
co-opted early. Both went firmly on
record as Carswell supporters, and their
leadership positions in the Senate clearly
hinged on their staying hitched. Sen.
Roman Hruska of Nebraska, defeated
by both Scott and Griffin at the
Republican caucus last year, was
waiting in the wings.
Then came the revelations about
Carswell, and more and more senators
appeared in opposition. Lawyers and
professors by the hundreds found him
unqualified. Still the White House held
back. Then a date was set for a recom
mittal vote and a final confirmation
vote. Scott and Griffin, near despair,
told the President they might not have
the votes.
With a week to go, the President began
his moves. Prestigious Sen. John
Sherman Cooper of Kentucky, who had
opposed Judge Haynsworth, was
persuaded to come out for Carswell.
Cooper is to leave the Senate in two
years, and he may have thought his
contributions in the field of foreign
policy and arms control would have
more impact if he went along.
WHATEVER the reason, Cooper was
followed by Sen. William Saxbe of Ohio,
for whom a special "Dear Bill" ex
change of letters was arranged. ? The
President's letter made it clear he would
fight hard for the confirmation and made
it a "constitutional" issue. The logic
was dubious and the facts were scanty,
but it was an impressive show of force.
Next Carswell's colleagues on the
Circuit Court were polled. When only
11 out of 18 responded, friends of the
judge (with an assist from the Depart
ment of Justice) began getting
signatures from district judges in the
circuit. Since district judges will have
to live with Carswell if he is defeated,
and since all depend on the President
for promotion, this yielded a richer
harvest.
Finally, Undersecretary of State Elliot
Richardson was given the assignment
of rounding up state attorneys general
with whom he had worked. All in all
it was an impressive performance.
BUT THE unsung hero of the Carswell
effort was the Vice President of the
United States who had done his work
thoroughly long before the general public
ever heard of Craswell.
To be "Agnewed" Is trade parlance
these days on network television as an
excuse for tailoring words to fit what
the White House might like to hear.
And when CBS' Roger Mudd, reporting
from the Senate on Monday, described
Carswell as "a moderate," he defined
the term. Unless, of course, segregating
golf clubs and praising white supremacy
is "moderate."
It is a sad comment on the American
media that newspapers expressed their
opinions and that many an editor was
willing to accept the epithets of his
community for speaking his mind while
the three networks, on the other hand,
whose community embraces the entire
nation and who do not have to risk
advertising dollars by expressing a point
of view, behaved as though the Carswell
appointment was not an Issue on which
opinion leaders should be called upon
to express a view.
DAILY NEBRASKAN
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Subscription ara U par MnmMr or 14 par Yr.
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The Collectivist Thought of Vice-Chairman Agnew
WASHINGTON Speaking before the Governors Conference, Vice President Agnew sur
prised many in the audience by his use of classical Stalinist rhetoric. He called on the
Governors "to withstand the criticism of the liberal community, who are presently so
blinded by total dedication to individual freedom that they cannot see the steady ero
slon of collective freedom ..."
i )
i i
: i
"I would remind the Senate ot its constitutional duty!"
PAGE 4
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
THURSDAY, (APRIL 9, 1970
PAGE 5