To Face Down Dixie

South Carolina's War on the Supreme Court in the Age of Civil Rights

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science
Cover of the book To Face Down Dixie by James O. Heath, LSU Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: James O. Heath ISBN: 9780807168387
Publisher: LSU Press Publication: December 14, 2017
Imprint: LSU Press Language: English
Author: James O. Heath
ISBN: 9780807168387
Publisher: LSU Press
Publication: December 14, 2017
Imprint: LSU Press
Language: English

In an era during which the United States Supreme Court handed down some of its most important decisions, including Brown v. Board of Education (1954), Baker v. Carr (1962), and Miranda v. Arizona (1966), three senators from South Carolina—Olin Johnston, Strom Thurmond, and Ernest “Fritz” Hollings—waged war on the court’s progressive agenda by targeting the federal judicial nominations process. To Face Down Dixie explores these senators’ role in some of the most contentious confirmation battles in recent history, including those of Thurgood Marshall, Abe Fortas, and Clement Haynsworth.

In scrutinizing Supreme Court nominees and attempting to restrict the power of the nine justices of the court, these senators defied not only the leadership of the Democratic Party but also the Senate traditions of hierarchy and seniority. Along with South Carolina’s conservative, segregationist political establishment, which maintained ironclad control over the state’s legislature, Johnston, Thurmond, and Hollings effectively drowned out the many moderate voices in South Carolina that remained critical of their obstructionism, thus advancing their own conservative credentials and boosting their chances of reelection.

To Face Down Dixie examines for the first time the central role that South Carolina played in turning Supreme Court nomination hearings into confrontational and political public events. James O. Heath argues that the state’s war on the court concealed its antipathy to civil rights by using the confirmation process to challenge the court’s function as the final arbiter of policy on questions relating to law and order, obscenity, communist subversion, and school prayer. Heath’s study illustrates that while South Carolina’s history of “massive resistance” is less prominent than that of other states, its politicians acted as persistent antagonists in the complex and dramatic debates in the U.S. Senate during the era of civil rights.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In an era during which the United States Supreme Court handed down some of its most important decisions, including Brown v. Board of Education (1954), Baker v. Carr (1962), and Miranda v. Arizona (1966), three senators from South Carolina—Olin Johnston, Strom Thurmond, and Ernest “Fritz” Hollings—waged war on the court’s progressive agenda by targeting the federal judicial nominations process. To Face Down Dixie explores these senators’ role in some of the most contentious confirmation battles in recent history, including those of Thurgood Marshall, Abe Fortas, and Clement Haynsworth.

In scrutinizing Supreme Court nominees and attempting to restrict the power of the nine justices of the court, these senators defied not only the leadership of the Democratic Party but also the Senate traditions of hierarchy and seniority. Along with South Carolina’s conservative, segregationist political establishment, which maintained ironclad control over the state’s legislature, Johnston, Thurmond, and Hollings effectively drowned out the many moderate voices in South Carolina that remained critical of their obstructionism, thus advancing their own conservative credentials and boosting their chances of reelection.

To Face Down Dixie examines for the first time the central role that South Carolina played in turning Supreme Court nomination hearings into confrontational and political public events. James O. Heath argues that the state’s war on the court concealed its antipathy to civil rights by using the confirmation process to challenge the court’s function as the final arbiter of policy on questions relating to law and order, obscenity, communist subversion, and school prayer. Heath’s study illustrates that while South Carolina’s history of “massive resistance” is less prominent than that of other states, its politicians acted as persistent antagonists in the complex and dramatic debates in the U.S. Senate during the era of civil rights.

More books from LSU Press

Cover of the book Loyola University New Orleans College of Law by James O. Heath
Cover of the book The British Gentry, the Southern Planter, and the Northern Family Farmer by James O. Heath
Cover of the book Promise by James O. Heath
Cover of the book For the Lost Cathedral by James O. Heath
Cover of the book Transition to an Industrial South by James O. Heath
Cover of the book LeAnne Howe at the Intersections of Southern and Native American Literature by James O. Heath
Cover of the book Slim Harpo by James O. Heath
Cover of the book Black Aperture by James O. Heath
Cover of the book Tumult And Silence At Second Creek by James O. Heath
Cover of the book The Fiction of Valerie Martin by James O. Heath
Cover of the book The Guerrilla Hunters by James O. Heath
Cover of the book Defying Disfranchisement by James O. Heath
Cover of the book Race and Education in North Carolina by James O. Heath
Cover of the book Racial Violence In Kentucky by James O. Heath
Cover of the book Gendered Politics in the Modern South by James O. Heath
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy