With the confirmation hearing for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito, Jr. coming to a close this week, it’s time to dust off a good Supreme Court trivia question that you can use to stump your colleagues: How many U.S. Supreme Court Justices have hailed from Texas?
The answer is one — Tom Clark, who President Truman appointed in 1949. Justice Clark served until 1967 when fellow Texan Lyndon Johnson engineered Clark’s resignation so that Johnson could appoint the first black Justice — Thurgood Marshall — to the Supreme Court. How did President Johnson induce Justice Clark to resign? By appointing Clark’s son Ramsey as Attorney General of the United States. Johnson really could get things done, eh?
With the Supreme Court in the news, the University of Texas’ fine Utopia site has made Justice Clark’s personal papers available on the Web. The materials “contain a comprehensive record of Justice Clark’s activities as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, public servant, and advocate for improved judicial administration. . . [f]rom . . . 1949 until his death in 1977.” The site focuses on court documents relating to Judge Clark’s work in the areas of desegregation, school prayer, voting rights, civil rights, and much more.
Hat tip to the Librarians Internet Index via ZiefBrief for the link to Justice Clark’s papers.