Title: Oral History Interview with Howell Heflin, July 9, 1974. Interview A-0010.
Identifier: A-0010
Interviewer: DeVries, Walter
Interviewee: Heflin, Howell
Subjects: Alabama--Politics and government    Wallace, George C. (George Corley), 1919-    Alabama--Race relations    Courts--Alabama    
Extent: 00:00:01
Abstract:  Howell Heflin, who sat on the Alabama State Supreme Court in the 1970s before a two-decade tenure in the Unites States Senate, discusses the post-segregation Alabama judiciary. The story is a familiar one: the persistent influence of race in a slowly changing environment. In the first half of the interview, Heflin describes some recent judicial reforms and his discomfort with the fact that judges must campaign for their seats. He worries that judges might be tempted to rule in favor of contributors. In the second half, Heflin turns to racial politics and comments on George Wallace and Barry Goldwater, as well as observing the arrival of a new generation of so-called activist judges taking the bench across the country.