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The grilling of Ketanji Brown Jackson has led to a wave of stories about the role of antisemitism in propelling the first Supreme Court nominee hearings in 1916 and 1939. But it's worth looking into just how bonkers the 1939 hearings were.Permalink On twitter.com
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Big picture: Two Jewish nominees, Louis Brandeis and Felix Frankfurter, were two of the first three Supreme Court picks to get a public hearing on their nomination. forward.com/culture/484541/ketanji-brown-jackson-supreme-court-confirmation-brandeis-antisemitism/Permalink On twitter.com
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Between them, Attorney General Harlan Fiske Stone was questioned about his actions as AG during his nomination, which was approved 71–6 soon after.Permalink On twitter.com
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Louis Brandeis, nominated in 1916 aroused opposition from the Boston establishment, among other quarters. npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106528133Permalink On twitter.com
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Among the opponents was former Attorney General George Wickersham, who would later conspire with Chief Justice William Howard Taft to oppose the nomination of Benjamin N. Cardozo in the 1920s. (Dalin, Jewish Justices of the Supreme Court, 96)Permalink On twitter.com
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Wickersham, who had opposed having one Jew on the court, said he didn't think "it would to to have two Jews on the Supreme Court."Permalink On twitter.com
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Cardozo would be nominated & confirmed in 1932. The nomination was bipartisan and Senate approval unanimous. blogs.kentlaw.iit.edu/iscotus/day-supreme-court-history-february-15-1932-benjamin-cardozo-nominated-supreme-court/Permalink On twitter.com
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Still, Felix Frankfurter, born in Vienna and educated at City College of New York, got a whopper of a hearing in 1939, with a level of grandstanding of public comment that rivals the current Twitter era.Permalink On twitter.com
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Frankfurter was widely seen as an obvious choice by lawyers polled in 1938, and his nomination was greeted warmly at the outset.Permalink On twitter.com
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On January 11, 1939, the day before Frankfurter spoke at his hearing, things went sideways. Among those testifying was Nazi sympathizer Elizabeth Dilling, who saw a "communistic Red Network" uniting the Roosevelts, Stone, Brandeis, and others.On twitter.com
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Mrs Dilling's political views: antisemitic, anticommunist, pro-Hitler, pro-Japanese Christianity. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_DillingPermalink On twitter.com
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Allen Zoll of the American Federation Against Communism opposed a Jew's nomination to the Supreme Court. Senator William King (R-UT) justified this point with vintage concern trolling allegedly on behalf of his Jewish friends.Permalink On twitter.com
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Veteran John Bowe "demanded that the commitet determine whether the nominee" while working in the War Department "was not responsible for providing Jewish chaplains in the army, and 'putting them on a level with Christian chaplains.'"Permalink On twitter.com
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Bowe also alleged that "119 Jews" were responsible for US treaty making at Versailles.Permalink On twitter.com
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"Charles Caraway, a carpenter who said he spoke for himself, opposed the appointment 'because it will make other aliens think they can come over here and get good jobs, too.'"Permalink On twitter.com
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Also, housewife Margaret Hopper argued that a 2,500 person demonstration that she was a part of showed widespread public opposition. The cause: "Frankfurter's a Red."Permalink On twitter.com
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Frankfurter refused to comment on this extraordinary day.Permalink On twitter.com
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Despite this spectacle, Felix Frankfurter received far more Republican votes than Ketanji Brown Jackson can expect to get: All of them.Permalink On twitter.com
