Apr. 11, 1962 - The Senate approved by voice vote today the nomination of Byron R. White (pictured) to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court. The action cleared the way for Mr. White to take his seat on the court next Monday and hear the last two weeks of arguments in the present term. The Senate acted shortly after its Judiciary Committee conducted hearings this morning and unanimously approved the nomination. Mr. White, now Deputy Attorney General, was selected 12 days ago by President Kennedy to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Charles Evans Whittaker. Just before the Senate acted, Senator Richard B. Russell, Democrat of Georgia, said that he supported Mr. White’s nomination but urged that President Kennedy fill the next Supreme Court vacancy with a “genuine conservative constitutionalist.” He said that there were from 40 to 50 million “conservatives” in the country who also deserved representation on the court.
