Herschel Friday

{{Short description|American lawyer}}

{{Infobox Officeholder

|name = Herschel Friday

|birth_date = {{birth date|1922|2|10}}

|birth_place = Lockesburg, Arkansas, U.S.

|death_date = {{death date and age|1994|3|1|1922|2|10}}

|death_place = near Little Rock, Arkansas,
U.S.

|party = Democratic{{cite book|title=God Save This Honorable Court: The Supreme Court Crisis|first=Louis M.|last=Kohlmeier, Jr.|publisher=Charles Scribner Sons|year=1972|url=https://archive.org/details/godsavethishonor00kohl}}

|education = University of Arkansas, Little
Rock {{small|(BA)}}
University of Arkansas,
Fayetteville {{small|(LLB)}}

}}

Herschel Hugar Friday (February 10, 1922 – March 1, 1994) was an Arkansas bond lawyer. He was best known for having been considered by President Richard Nixon for an appointment as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1971. Also, he and his law firm represented the Little Rock School District during the 1957 Central High School Crisis, and defended various school districts in Arkansas against desegregation lawsuits throughout the 1960s.{{cite book|title=The Rehnquist legacy|first=Craig M. |last=Bradley|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year= 2006|isbn=0-521-85919-0}}{{cite news| title=Nixon is Expected to Pick Arkansan for Seat on Court | date=October 21, 1971| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/10/21/archives/nixon-is-expected-to-pick-arkansan-for-seat-on-court-mcclellan.html| newspaper=The New York times| access-date=April 4, 2022}}

During the summer of 1971, both John Harlan and Hugo Black announced their intention to retire from the Supreme Court. Nixon strongly considered nominating Friday and California Court of Appeals judge Mildred Lillie to the open seats. Also under consideration by Nixon were: Robert C. Byrd, Sylvia Bacon, Charles Clark and Paul Hitch Roney.

The American Bar Association's Committee on the Federal Judiciary, which since 1952 has provided its analysis and a recommendation on each nominees' professional qualifications to sit on the Supreme Court,{{cite web| title=How Do Supreme Court Nominations Work?| first=Josephine (Jo)| last=Bahn| url=https://www.americanbar.org/groups/young_lawyers/publications/after-the-bar/essentials/how-do-supreme-court-nominations-work/| work=After the Bar: Essentials| publisher=American Bar Association| access-date=April 4, 2022}} voted 11–1 to give Lillie an "unqualified" rating, and, with eight votes necessary for a "qualified" rating, voted 6–6 on Friday, thus ending up as "not opposed" to his nomination. These were the first instances in which negative recommendations were issued by the ABA since it began participating in the Supreme Court nomination and confirmation process.{{cite journal| first1=Joel B.| last1=Grossman| first2=Stephen L.| last2=Wasby| title=The Senate and Supreme Court Nominations: Some Reflections| date=1972| journal=Duke Law Journal| pages=557–591| volume=21| issue=3| doi=10.2307/1371870| jstor=1371870| s2cid=53311134| url=https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/dlj/vol21/iss3/2| access-date=April 4, 2022}} Nixon also learned that the prospects of Senate confirmation for both Lilley and Friday were not good. In light of these developments, the president nominated Lewis Powell and William H. Rehnquist instead.{{cite news| title=Court Nominees Termed Nixon's Stand‐by Choices| first=Robert B.| last=Semple Jr.| newspaper=The New York Times| date=October 23, 1971| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/10/23/archives/court-nominees-termed-nixons-standby-choices-court-nominees-held.html| access-date=April 4, 2022}} Friday was informed of the change in plan only hours before the Powell and Rehnquist nominations were announced live on national television; reporters and friends were waiting for news at his house with him.{{Cite book |last=Margolick |first=David |url=https://archive.org/details/atbarpassions00marg/page/212 |title=At the bar : the passions and peccadilloes of American lawyers |date=1995 |publisher=New York : Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-0-671-88787-2 |pages=213–4}}

Friday continued with his Arkansas law firm, Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP. He became recognized as one of the most influential lobbyists in the area, and he wielded his influence on behalf of the horse-racing interest Oaklawn Park. In 1988, he was particularly successful in getting Governor Bill Clinton to sign a tax package that was beneficial to horse racing. Friday would later be a benefactor of Clinton as Governor and, later, President of the United States.{{Cite book |last=Oakley |first=Meredith L. |url=https://archive.org/details/onmakeriseofbill00oakl?q=%22Herschel+Friday%22 |title=On the make |date=1994 |publisher=Regnery Pub. |isbn=978-0-89526-493-0}} Friday died on March 1, 1994, when he failed to maintain control of his aircraft, while maneuvering to land at Bobwhite Hill Ranch, Arkansas. The aircraft impacted the ground and was destroyed. Factors related to the accident were: darkness and possible spatial disorientation.{{cite web |url=https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/36039 |title=ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 36039|date=1 March 1994 |website=Aviation Safety Network |accessdate=6 October 2020}}

He was survived by his wife, Beth.{{Cite magazine |date=1994-03-12 |title=Obituary: Herschel Friday |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_blood-horse_1994-03-12_120_11?q=%22Herschel+Friday%22 |magazine=The Blood-Horse |language=English |publisher=The Blood-Horse |volume=120 |issue=11 |page=1351 |access-date=2020-09-11}}