Repairing the Damage

Not since the Cival War has a Supreme Court seat been vacant for so long. Not since the fight over Louis Brandeis in 1916 has a court nomination stirred up so destructive a dispute as that produced by the unsuccessful Carswell and Haynsworth nominations. With an almost palpable sense of relief, the Senate is set to begin the repair process this week by consenting -- cheerfully -- to the appointment of Federal Circuit Judge Harry Blackmun to the place vacated by Abe Fortas' forced resig nation twelve months ago.

Without a dissenting vote or even an argument, the Senate Judiciary Committee last week approved the nomi nation of the quiet, austere Minnesotan.

In its brief report, the committee termed Blackmun "thoroughly qualified" and noted that "not a single witness appeared in opposition."

Remembering how Clement Hayns worth Jr.'s candidacy foundered on allegations of conflict of interest, the com mittee delved deeply into Blackmun's financial record. The Senators noted that in his eleven years on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, Blackmun heard 900 cases and participated in only four suits where he had even a remote financial interest in one of the litigants. The committee backed the American Bar Association's finding that "his stockholdings are so small that, in our opinion, he violated no statute or canon."

Indiana Democrat Birch Bayh, leader of the successful opposition to both Haynsworth and G. Harrold Carswell, implicitly contrasted Blackmun to Carswell, who was criticized for insensitivity toward racial issues. Though Blackmun has been labeled a conservative, the lib eral Bayh said: "There is every indication that Judge Blackmun is aware of the crucial questions of civil rights and human rights facing our nation -- and is equipped to deal with them with sensitivity, understanding and intelligence."

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