Charles A. Bane
Encyclopedia
Charles Arthur Bane was an American lawyer and civil rights activist who was a former federal judicial nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
and who also was the first president of the United Way's Illinois chapter.
and the son of a poor coal miner, Bane graduated at the top of his Springfield High School
class. Bane earned a bachelor's degree (Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of Chicago
in 1935 and was elected a Rhodes Scholar. At Oxford,he befriended fellow Rhodes Scholar and future novelist Robert Penn Warren. Bane later served on The Rhodes Scholar Selection Committee. He earned a bachelor's degree in jurisprudence from the University of Oxford
in 1937 and he earned a law degree from Harvard Law School
in 1938.
from 1938 until 1942 and from 1946 until 1949. From 1942 until 1943, Bane was an attorney with the U.S. Office of Lend-Lease
Administration, and he was on active duty with the United States Navy
as an intelligence officer with OSS, stationed in London, from July 1943 until February 1946. OSS personnel were instrumental in convincing the enemy that D-day forces would land at a beach-head other than Normandy.
From 1949 until 1952, Bane was a partner with the law firm of Mitchell, Conway and Bane in Chicago. In the early 1950s, Bane also worked as the lawyer representing the Chicago City Council's Crime Investigating Committee, which focused on organized crime. He quickly concluded that the crime syndicate had corrupted Chicago's Police Department. He later resigned from his post when the Chicago City Council refused to force police officers to disclose sources of income. As a result of his crime -fighting career, he was asked by prominent Chicago Republicans to run for mayor. He declined.
Bane became a partner in the Chicago law firm of Isham, Lincoln and Beale in 1953. The firm was founded by the surviving son of Abraham Lincoln, Robert Todd Lincoln. The younger Lincoln used a letter of recommendation from Thomas Edison to obtain the firm's first client, Commonwealth Edison. Bane served on the Advisory Board of The Lincoln Legal Papers Project, a mammoth effort that resulted in the collection of more than 5,000 documents relating to Abraham Lincoln's legal practice.
Bane also played a major role in the findings of the National Advisory Committee On Civil Disorder, or Kerner Commission, established by President Lyndon Johnson in the wake of 1967 national race riots, and chaired by Illinois governor Otto Kerner Jr. The Commission was established by Johnson to reportedly find conspiracies aimed at violence within Black communities. Bane chaired the concurrent Citizen's Committee To Study Police Relations (in Chicago). The Committee called 47 witnesses which produced 1,900 pages of transcript. When the Kerner Report, issued February 28, 1968,declared famously that "our nation is moving towards two societies,one Black, one White-separate and unequal", and that race riots could be traced to inadequate employment opportunities and substandard housing, Johnson was enraged.
Bane also served as Editor of the Chicago Bar Record, Chairman of the American Bar Association Journal, and authored "The Electrical Equipment Conspiracies:The Treble Damage Actions" (1973), a groundbreaking legal text. He also served as President of The Chicago Council On Foreign Relations.He served two years as Co-Chairman of The Lawyers Committee For Civil Rights under President Jimmy Carter.
Following retirement to Florida, he was Visiting Professor Of Law at the University of Miami School Of Law and planned to begin a legal biography of Abraham Lincoln.
Each year the Charles A. Bane Humanitarian Award is presented to a volunteer by the United Way Of Illinois.
nominated Bane to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
to replace Elmer Jacob Schnackenberg
, who had died in September 1968. Immediately, Bane's nomination ran into trouble for three reasons. First, Bane had litigation pending on his 1963 tax return because of his attempt to deduct $16,000 for business and entertainment expenses. Deputy Attorney General Richard Kleindienst
had asked Bane to attempt a settlement with the Internal Revenue Service
, and although Bane had tried unsuccessfully to reach a settlement. With the IRS declining to back down from its position, Bane told the White House he would prefer to litigate the case. In addition, Bane had been alleged to have been anti-semitic because he allowed a Jewish family to be rejected for an apartment by the board of his cooperative apartment building at 209 E. Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. Finally, Bane, in a letter he sent to the president on June 30, 1969 requesting that his nomination be withdrawn, cited "pressing commitments" in his law firm and a growing need for him to remain there.
On October 22, 1969, Nixon formally withdrew Bane's nomination.
On September 22, 1970, Nixon nominated John Paul Stevens
to the seat to which he had nominated Bane. Stevens was confirmed by the United States Senate
on October 8, 1970, and Stevens eventually went on to a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States
.
Bane was the only federal appeals-court nominee of Nixon's entire presidency who was never confirmed. (Two of Nixon's Supreme Court nominees, Clement Haynsworth
and G. Harrold Carswell, both were rejected outright by the United States Senate
in votes.)
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts:* Central District of Illinois* Northern District of Illinois...
and who also was the first president of the United Way's Illinois chapter.
Early life and education
Born in Springfield, IllinoisSpringfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
and the son of a poor coal miner, Bane graduated at the top of his Springfield High School
Springfield High School (Illinois)
Springfield High School is a public secondary school located in Springfield, Illinois. It is the oldest of the three high schools in Springfield Public Schools District 186 . The school draws mainly from the west side of Springfield.While the school opened in 1857, the current building was...
class. Bane earned a bachelor's degree (Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
in 1935 and was elected a Rhodes Scholar. At Oxford,he befriended fellow Rhodes Scholar and future novelist Robert Penn Warren. Bane later served on The Rhodes Scholar Selection Committee. He earned a bachelor's degree in jurisprudence from the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
in 1937 and he earned a law degree from Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
in 1938.
Professional career
Bane worked as an attorney for the law firm of Sullivan & CromwellSullivan & Cromwell
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is an international law firm headquartered in New York. The firm has approximately 800 lawyers in 12 offices, located in financial centers in the United States, Asia, Australia and Europe. Sullivan & Cromwell was founded by Algernon Sydney Sullivan and William Nelson...
from 1938 until 1942 and from 1946 until 1949. From 1942 until 1943, Bane was an attorney with the U.S. Office of Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
Administration, and he was on active duty with the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
as an intelligence officer with OSS, stationed in London, from July 1943 until February 1946. OSS personnel were instrumental in convincing the enemy that D-day forces would land at a beach-head other than Normandy.
From 1949 until 1952, Bane was a partner with the law firm of Mitchell, Conway and Bane in Chicago. In the early 1950s, Bane also worked as the lawyer representing the Chicago City Council's Crime Investigating Committee, which focused on organized crime. He quickly concluded that the crime syndicate had corrupted Chicago's Police Department. He later resigned from his post when the Chicago City Council refused to force police officers to disclose sources of income. As a result of his crime -fighting career, he was asked by prominent Chicago Republicans to run for mayor. He declined.
Bane became a partner in the Chicago law firm of Isham, Lincoln and Beale in 1953. The firm was founded by the surviving son of Abraham Lincoln, Robert Todd Lincoln. The younger Lincoln used a letter of recommendation from Thomas Edison to obtain the firm's first client, Commonwealth Edison. Bane served on the Advisory Board of The Lincoln Legal Papers Project, a mammoth effort that resulted in the collection of more than 5,000 documents relating to Abraham Lincoln's legal practice.
Bane also played a major role in the findings of the National Advisory Committee On Civil Disorder, or Kerner Commission, established by President Lyndon Johnson in the wake of 1967 national race riots, and chaired by Illinois governor Otto Kerner Jr. The Commission was established by Johnson to reportedly find conspiracies aimed at violence within Black communities. Bane chaired the concurrent Citizen's Committee To Study Police Relations (in Chicago). The Committee called 47 witnesses which produced 1,900 pages of transcript. When the Kerner Report, issued February 28, 1968,declared famously that "our nation is moving towards two societies,one Black, one White-separate and unequal", and that race riots could be traced to inadequate employment opportunities and substandard housing, Johnson was enraged.
Bane also served as Editor of the Chicago Bar Record, Chairman of the American Bar Association Journal, and authored "The Electrical Equipment Conspiracies:The Treble Damage Actions" (1973), a groundbreaking legal text. He also served as President of The Chicago Council On Foreign Relations.He served two years as Co-Chairman of The Lawyers Committee For Civil Rights under President Jimmy Carter.
Following retirement to Florida, he was Visiting Professor Of Law at the University of Miami School Of Law and planned to begin a legal biography of Abraham Lincoln.
Each year the Charles A. Bane Humanitarian Award is presented to a volunteer by the United Way Of Illinois.
Failed nomination to the Seventh Circuit
On May 28, 1969, President Richard NixonRichard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
nominated Bane to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts:* Central District of Illinois* Northern District of Illinois...
to replace Elmer Jacob Schnackenberg
Elmer Jacob Schnackenberg
Elmer Jacob Schnackenberg was a United States federal judge.Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, Schnackenberg attended local public schools before moving to Chicago, Illinois. There he worked as a stenographer and taught school for two years. He received an LL.B...
, who had died in September 1968. Immediately, Bane's nomination ran into trouble for three reasons. First, Bane had litigation pending on his 1963 tax return because of his attempt to deduct $16,000 for business and entertainment expenses. Deputy Attorney General Richard Kleindienst
Richard Kleindienst
Richard Gordon Kleindienst was an American lawyer and politician.Born in Winslow, Arizona, he served in the United States Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1946...
had asked Bane to attempt a settlement with the Internal Revenue Service
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
, and although Bane had tried unsuccessfully to reach a settlement. With the IRS declining to back down from its position, Bane told the White House he would prefer to litigate the case. In addition, Bane had been alleged to have been anti-semitic because he allowed a Jewish family to be rejected for an apartment by the board of his cooperative apartment building at 209 E. Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. Finally, Bane, in a letter he sent to the president on June 30, 1969 requesting that his nomination be withdrawn, cited "pressing commitments" in his law firm and a growing need for him to remain there.
On October 22, 1969, Nixon formally withdrew Bane's nomination.
On September 22, 1970, Nixon nominated John Paul Stevens
John Paul Stevens
John Paul Stevens served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from December 19, 1975 until his retirement on June 29, 2010. At the time of his retirement, he was the oldest member of the Court and the third-longest serving justice in the Court's history...
to the seat to which he had nominated Bane. Stevens was confirmed by the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
on October 8, 1970, and Stevens eventually went on to a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
.
Bane was the only federal appeals-court nominee of Nixon's entire presidency who was never confirmed. (Two of Nixon's Supreme Court nominees, Clement Haynsworth
Clement Haynsworth
Clement Furman Haynsworth, Jr. was a United States judge and an unsuccessful nominee for the United States Supreme Court....
and G. Harrold Carswell, both were rejected outright by the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
in votes.)