Is This Robert Bork's Supreme Court?

"To Bork" someone, according Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, is "to attack or defeat (a nominee or candidate for public office) unfairly through an organized campaign of harsh public criticism or vilification."

The phrase entered the lexicon after Ronald Reagan's nominee to the Supreme Court, Robert Bork, faced a bruising confirmation process in 1987. By all accounts, Bork was a qualified jurist, but Senate Democrats, then in the majority, feared his conservative ideology would swing the court to the far right. The result? A 42-58 vote to reject Bork's nomination divided mostly along party lines.

Bork's failed nomination foreshadowed partisan nomination battles for decades to come. No better example can be found than Barack Obama's pick Merrick Garland, who was denied even a hearing, less a vote.

As Senate Republicans inch closer to confirming Judge Amy Coney Barrett days before the 2020 election, Major Garrett explores Robert Bork's failed nomination and how its legacy endures some thirty years later.

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