Robert H. Bork, the conservative legal champion whose bitter defeat for a Supreme Court seat in 1987 politicized the confirmation process and changed the court’s direction for decades, died Wednesday. He was 85.
The former Yale law professor and judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit died at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va., from complications of heart disease, said his son Robert H. Bork Jr.
A revered figure on the right, Bork inspired a generation of conservatives with his critiques of the liberal-dominated high court in the 1960s and ‘70s. In speeches, law reviews and op-ed articles, Bork argued that the liberal justices were abusing their power and remaking American life by ending prayers in public schools, extending new rights to criminals, ordering cross-town busing for desegregation and striking down laws on birth control, abortion and the death penalty. Bork said the Constitution, as originally written, left these matters to the wishes of the majority.
Bork was more than a legal theorist. He was also a highly regarded constitutional lawyer. When he served as U.S. solicitor general under Presidents Nixon and Ford, the Supreme Court justices praised Bork as one of the finest advocates they had ever seen.
As solicitor general, he served as a footnote to the Watergate scandal that brought down Nixon. In what became known as “the Saturday Night Massacre,” the embattled chief executive ordered the firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox because he had demanded Nixon’s secret White House tapes. The attorney general and then the deputy attorney general resigned rather than carry out the order. Bork, who was then in the No. 3 post as solicitor general, carried out the order and fired Cox.
When Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980, Bork’s name rose to the top of the list of potential court nominees. Reagan aspired to transform the Supreme Court, and Bork, then teaching law at Yale, was offered a seat on the Court of Appeals in Washington. It was seen as a stepping stone to the high court.
But it turned into a long wait for Bork.
Reagan chose Sandra Day O’Connor in 1981, fulfilling a campaign promise to appoint the first woman to the Supreme Court. A fateful moment came in 1986 when a second seat became vacant. Reagan and his advisors passed over Bork for his younger colleague, then-Judge Antonin Scalia, who won a unanimous confirmation in a Senate still under Republican control.
Bork’s time finally came in the summer of 1987 when Justice Lewis Powell, the swing vote on the closely divided court, announced his retirement. By then, however, the Democrats had taken control of the Senate, and Reagan had been weakened by the Iran-Contra scandal.
On July 1, 1987, Reagan introduced the burly, bearded Judge Bork as his nominee, but within an hour the president’s words were drowned out by a fierce attack from Capitol Hill led by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).
“Robert Bork’s America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, [and] rogue police could break down citizens’ doors in midnight raids,” Kennedy said. No one could remember such a harsh assault on a president’s court nominee, and it set the tone for a campaign-style attack that lasted into the fall.
Bork gave the Democrats plenty of ammunition, however.
As a Yale professor in 1963, he had condemned the pending civil rights bill that would have given blacks an equal right to be served in hotels, restaurants and other public places across the nation. He called this a threat to individual freedom, and he advised Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater, the Republican presidential nominee, to cast a “no” vote against what became the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Bork wrote critically of the Voting Rights Act and various school desegregation measures. He also denounced the court’s “right to privacy” rulings that led to the Roe vs. Wade decision guaranteeing a woman’s right to have an abortion.
When Bork made his case before the Senate Judiciary Committee, he faced a hostile majority of Democrats, including its new chairman, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware. Because of his long “paper trail,” Bork had no choice but to try to explain his views. He did so, at length, but he did not win over many converts. And viewers watching on television told pollsters they saw the stiff, scowling judge as an intimidating figure. Bork helped his opponents paint a portrait of him as a nominee who was more attuned to legal theory than to doing justice. When asked why he wanted to serve on the nation’s highest court, Bork told one senator the job would be “an intellectual feast.”
When the hearings ended, the Reagan White House knew Bork could not be confirmed. But the judge refused to withdraw, and the Senate rejected his nomination on a 58-42 vote.
Conservatives were furious, insisting that partisan attacks had maligned the reputation of one of the most accomplished jurists to come before the Senate. The phrase “to bork” became shorthand for inflicting a harsh, unfair public attack. Liberals and Democrats countered that Bork went down to defeat because most Americans did not share his views.
But no one disputed that the Bork battle changed how presidents choose nominees and how the Senate debates them. In the wake of Bork’s defeat, presidential legal advisors looked for judicial nominees who had said or written little on the major legal controversies. In 1990, for example, President George H.W. Bush chose a little-known New Hampshire judge for the Supreme Court because his views were unknown. Justice David H. Souter easily won confirmation, but then surprised his Republican backers when he became a reliable liberal on the court.
1/45
The onetime headmistress of an elite girls’ school fatally shot Dr. Herman Tarnower, her lover and the creator of the famous “Scarsdale Diet.” The killing generated front-page headlines and national debates about whether she was a feminist martyr or vengeful murderer. She was 89.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Ron Frehm / Associated Press) 2/45
Often called “Stormin’ Norman” for his legendary temper, the former four-star general is best known as the commander of 1991’s Operation Desert Storm, which quickly drove an invading Iraq out of Kuwait. He reminded America what it was like to win a war and defined the nation’s renewed sense of military pride. He was 78.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (David Longstreath / Associated Press) 3/45
The two-time Oscar nominee was dubbed the king of the character actors for his skill in playing everything from a Nazi colonel to the pope. His prolific work in films and television included supporting roles in the classic comedy “Tootsie” and the TV sitcom “Evening Shade.” He was 89.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Chris Pizzello / Associated Press) 4/45
Bork was the conservative legal champion whose bitter defeat for a Supreme Court seat in 1987 politicized the confirmation process and changed the court’s direction for decades. He was 85.
Full obituary |
Photos Notable deaths of 2012 (John Duricka / Associated Press) 5/45
The Hawaii Democrat was the second-longest-serving senator in U.S. history. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his
World War II combat heroics. He was 88.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Lucy Pemoni / Associated Press) 6/45
Shankar was already revered as a master of the sitar in 1966 when he met
George Harrison, the Beatle who became his most famous disciple and gave the Indian musician-composer unexpected pop-culture cachet. He was 92.
Full obituary |
Photos Notable deaths of 2012 (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times) 7/45
Rivera defied the limits of genre and used her personal struggles in her songs, becoming a hero among Latin women in the U.S. and Mexico and a powerful player in a field dominated by machismo. She was 43.
Full obituary |
Photos Notable deaths of 2012 (Victoria Will / Associated Press) 8/45
Niemeyer, who loved curves in design and disliked right angles, shared architecture’s
Pritzker Prize in 1988. He designed the major buildings that form the heart of
Brazil’s capital, Brasilia. He was 104.
Full obituary |
Photos Notable deaths of 2012 (Andre Luiz / Associated Press) 9/45
The New Hampshire senator co-authored a groundbreaking budget-balancing law, championed ethics and led a commission that predicted the danger of terrorist attacks years before 9/11. He was 82.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Ron Edmonds / Associated Press) 10/45
Though already a television star for his role on 1960s sitcom “I Dream of Jeannie,” Hagman is best known for playing villainous patriarch J.R. Ewing in the TV soap “Dallas.” In 1980, an estimated 300 million viewers in 57 countries saw J.R. get shot. Hagman was 81.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Tony Gutierrez / Associated Press) 11/45
Former boxing champion Hector “Macho” Camacho fought a who’s who of legendary opponents stretching from Ray Mancini to Oscar De La Hoya. Known for flamboyance in the ring, he showed he understood the importance of selling a fight and employing some mental warfare. He was 50.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Charles Rex Abrogast / Associated Press) 12/45
The inventive American composer whose music celebrated the intricacies of modern life helped define the American sound in the 20th century. He received two Pulitzer Prizes, the Sibelius Medal and the National Medal of the Arts. He was 103.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Jennifer S. Altman / For The Times) 13/45
The etiquette maven served as social secretary to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and later wrote books and a syndicated column advising readers on good manners. Time magazine described her as “a superbly energetic amalgam of feminist and Tasteful Lady.” She was 86.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 14/45
The Hall of Fame boxing trainer directed several world-champion fighters including
Thomas Hearns, Lennox Lewis and current heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. His Detroit gym is one of the world’s best known boxing centers. He was 68.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Elizabeth Conley / Associated Press) 15/45
Hailed as “one of the last thoroughgoing generalists,” the French American scholar helped found the field of cultural history and in his 90s wrote the epic if improbable bestseller “From Dawn to Decadence.” He was 104.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Eric Gay / Associated Press) 16/45
As one of the leaders of the famed 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee, S.D., he helped thrust the plight of Native Americans into the national spotlight. He later launched a career as an actor with roles in films including “The Last of the Mohicans” and “Natural Born Killers.” He was 72.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Jim Mone / Associated Press) 17/45
A three-term U.S. senator from South Dakota, McGovern won the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. Though he lost in a landslide against
Richard M. Nixon, his campaign left a significant legacy, including his proposals, since fulfilled, that women be appointed to the Supreme Court and nominated for the vice presidency. He was 90.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Walt Zeboski / Associated Press) 18/45
The former king of
Cambodia was a crafty political survivor whose fortunes were entwined with
U.S. military involvement in Indochina. Long a symbol of Cambodian nationalism and independence, he was one of Southeast Asia’s most colorful statesmen. He was 89.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (David Van Der Veen / AFP / Getty Images) 19/45
The longtime senator represented Pennsylvania for 30 years but perhaps was best known for his work in the Supreme Court nomination process. He was 82.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Matthew Cavanaugh / EPA) 20/45
Known by his nickname Punch, the visionary publisher of the
New York Times overcame a reputation as the idle prince of a newspaper dynasty to become the Times’ fourth publisher. His most important decision was to publish
the Pentagon Papers. He was 86.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Ray Howard / Associated Press) 21/45
With his silky voice and and casual style, the baritone most famous for his rendition of “Moon River” was one of America’s top vocalists from the 1950s into the 1970s. He was 84. Full obituary
Notable deaths of 2012
(Lennox McLendon / Associated Press) 22/45
From humble beginnings as a ditch-digger in his native Chicago, Duncan rose to fame and earned an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of a gentle death row inmate in the prison drama “The Green Mile.” He was 54.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Carlo Allegri / Associated Press) 23/45
The self-proclaimed Messiah from South Korea led the Unification Church, one of the most controversial religious movements to sweep America in the 1970s. Moon’s unorthodox movement was labeled a cult and featured mass marriage ceremonies. He was 92.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (John Marshall Mantel / Associated Press) 24/45
Known for her electrified hairdo and outlandish wardrobe, the zany housewife-turned-comedian made her comedy club debut at the age of 37. Famed for her self-deprecating jokes, Diller enjoyed a long career in clubs, movies and TV. She was 95.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times) 25/45
Best known for adrenaline-filled movies including “Top Gun” and “Man on Fire,” the British director-producer made films centered on alpha-male action heroes. Scott died Aug. 19 after leaping off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro. He was 68.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Gus Ruelas / Associated Press) 26/45
Writer of the bestselling 1962 book “Sex and the Single Girl,” Brown broke ground by discussing the sex life of single women. The book led to led to a syndicated newspaper column, a movie of the same name and, in 1965, to Brown’s role as editor of Cosmopolitan. She was 90.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Santi Visalli / Getty Images) 27/45
One of the notorious murderers whose 1963 slaying of an LAPD officer near Bakersfield was chronicled in Joseph Wambaugh’s book “The Onion Field,” Powell spent the rest of his life in prison for the crime. The incident shattered the image of the invincible cop and changed police practices. He was 79.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times) 28/45
The prolific composer won three Academy Awards for “The Way We Were” and “The Sting,” a Tony and a Pulitzer for “A Chorus Line” and four Emmys. Charming audiences with his improvisational agility, he was principal pops conductor for several major symphonies, including the Pasadena Symphony and Pops and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He was 68.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 29/45
The iconoclastic author, savvy analyst and glorious gadfly of the national conscience was a literary juggernaut who wrote novels including “Lincoln” and the satirical “Myra Breckinridge.” His essays are considered among the most elegant in the English language. He was 86.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 30/45
The onetime underground Jewish fighter served four terms as Israeli prime minister in the 1980s and early ‘90s. His unyielding belief in the right of Jews to all of the biblical land of
Israel often exasperated U.S. policymakers. He was 96.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Jim Hollander / EPA) 31/45
A rare author and screenwriter whose works appealed to highbrow readers and mainstream movie-goers, Ephron wrote fiction that was distinguished by characters who seemed simultaneously normal and extraordinary. Her hit movies include “Sleepless in Seattle,” “When Harry Met Sally...” and “Julie & Julia.” She was 71.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Charles Sykes / Associated Press) 32/45
Known for his colorful portraits of athletes in motion, the wildly successful American artist became an artistic fixture at such major sporting events as the Olympics and the Super Bowl. Neiman was also a longtime contributor to Playboy magazine. He was 91.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Bebeto Matthews / Associated Press) 33/45
The tape of King’s 1991 beating and the upheaval that followed in 1992 opened the door to widespread police reform. King, who became an icon of the civil rights movement, was found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool in Rialto. Authorities are investigating his death as an accidental drowning. He was 47.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 34/45
Best known for her Oscar-nominated supporting role as a blowsy barfly in the 1972 movie “Fat City,” Tyrrell’s film credits also included “Islands in the Stream,” “Angel,” and “Cry-Baby.” Critics “hailed her as one of the best screen drunks they’d ever seen,” Roderick Mann later wrote in The Times. She was 67.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (George Wilhelm / Los Angeles Times) 35/45
The
Nobel Prize-winning chemist, left, helped solve a longstanding problem in the manufacture of medicines. He led development of a chemical catalyst to create safe compounds for producing L-Dopa, a drug for treating
Parkinson’s disease. He was 95.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Diether Endlicher / Associated Press) 36/45
The former head of Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry was an authoritarian who cracked down on political dissent. After a series of attacks inside the kingdom, he became a close Washington ally against Al Qaeda. He died just months after he was named heir apparent in the world’s leading oil power. He was 78.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Hassan Ammar / Associated Press) 37/45
Dubbed “one of the true powerhouses of the pop music business” by Fortune magazine in 1986, the year she became BMI’s president and chief executive, Frances Williams Preston was a key figure in Nashville’s growth as a major music center, and nurtured the careers of numerous songwriters. She was 83.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Ed Rode / Associated Press) 38/45
The onetime member of the Lucchese crime family turned government informant became the subject of the film classic “Goodfellas.” His crimes included participating in the largest single cash robbery in U.S. history and helping fix Boston College basketball games. He was 69.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Nati Harnik / Associated Press) 39/45
The South African paleoanthropologist, nominated three times for
a Nobel Prize, excavated the Sterkfontein Caves, one of his nation’s most important fossil sites. He was also part of the research on hominids in the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, collaborating with a British archaeologist on the identification of one the early hominids,
Homo habilis, in 1964. Tobias was 86.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Alexander Joe / AFP / Getty Images) 40/45
The Fleetwood Mac guitarist and singer was with the band in the early 1970s when it was making the transition from British blues rock band to commercial powerhouse. His work on early albums such as “Future Games,” “Bare Trees” and “Heroes Are Hard to Find” with band mates who included Mick Fleetwood and John and Christie McVie set the tone for what was to come. He was 66.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Olivier Ferrand / Capitol Records) 41/45
With more than 27 novels and 600 short stories, the sci-fi writer’s vividly rendered space-scapes provided the world with one of the most enduring speculative blueprints for the future. In “The Martian Chronicles” and other works, the L.A.-based Bradbury mixed small-town familiarity with otherworldly settings. He was 91.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times) 42/45
The World Savings Bank executive was one of the first women on Wall Street. She and husband Herbert spent 43 years building Oakland’s World Savings Bank into a major -- and ultimately controversial -- adjustable mortgage lender. She was 81.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2012 (Jakub Mosur / For The Times) 43/45
The in-your-face rapper and bass player Adam Yauch, center, found fame in the transgressive, boundary-breaking trio the Beastie Boys. In later years, Yauch became a leading advocate for Tibetan independence. He was 47.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2011 (Frazer Harrison / Getty Images) 44/45
The star linebacker at USC and for his hometown San Diego Chargers made the Pro Bowl 12 years in a row and was voted All-Pro 10 times. He apparently ended his life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 43.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2011 (Al Messerschmidt / Getty Images) 45/45
Born Thomas Austin Preston Jr., the colorful and quotable Amarillo Slim won the World Series of Poker in 1972 and began promoting the game on TV and in books. He brought the game “out of the back alleys,” one expert said. He was 83.
Full obituary Notable deaths of 2011 (Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
Court nominees after Bork refused to follow his tack of seeking to explain his views in answer to questions from senators, instead choosing to duck them. Bork’s defeat also had a profound and lasting impact on the Supreme Court itself. Had Bork won confirmation, the court’s conservative bloc, led by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, would have had a majority to overturn Roe vs. Wade as well as the strict ban on school-sponsored prayers and invocations. Instead, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the Reagan nominee who eventually filled Powell’s seat, cast a deciding vote in 1992 to preserve the right to abortion and the ban on school prayers. Kennedy has also been a strong foe of laws that discriminate against gays and lesbians, and he is seen as holding the decisive vote in the upcoming cases involving same-sex marriage.
Bork’s influence on conservative legal thought was also lasting. In the 1970s, he was among the first to argue for interpreting the Constitution based on its “original intent,” an idea that was later championed by Scalia and Justice Clarence Thomas.
As a scholar of antitrust law, Bork helped fundamentally change the thinking behind the law. He criticized those who targeted “big” businesses as monopolies and said antitrust law should focus instead on the welfare of consumers. At Yale, students joked that Bork taught “pro-trust,” not antitrust. But his views are now widely accepted.
Bork stepped down from the bench a year after his Senate defeat, and he wrote several books renewing his criticism of liberalism. In the last year, he served as a chairman of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s advisory committee on the judiciary and the courts.
Scalia praised Bork as “one of the most influential legal scholars of the past 50 years. His impact on legal thinking in the fields of antitrust and constitutional law was profound and lasting. More important for the final accounting, he was a good man and a loyal citizen.”
Bork was born in Pittsburgh on March 1, 1927, and served in the Marines. He graduated from the University of Chicago and its law school and worked as a lawyer in New York and Chicago before joining the Yale faculty in 1962.
His first wife, Claire Davidson, died in 1980. He married Mary Ellen Bork, a former nun, in 1982. She survives him, along with three children from his first marriage, sons Robert and Charles Bork and daughter Ellen Bork, and two grandchildren.
[email protected]
