page_title: Howell Heflin
section_title: Political career
hierarchical_section_title: Howell Heflin / Political career
caption_attribution_description: English: President Reagan, Charles Grassley (2A-3A) President Reagan, Howell Heflin( 4A-8A) President Reagan, William Cohen (9A-11A)
context_page_description: Howell Thomas Heflin was an American lawyer and politician who served in the United States Senate representing Alabama from 1979 to 1997. He chose not to run for reelection in 1996.
context_section_description: In 1970, Heflin was elected Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, serving from 1971 to 1977.
  In 1978, Heflin was elected to the United States Senate to succeed fellow Democrat John Sparkman, who had been Adlai E. Stevenson's running mate in the 1952 presidential election. Heflin won his party's nomination by defeating U.S. Representative Walter Flowers of Tuscaloosa, a longtime George C. Wallace ally. The 1966 Republican gubernatorial nominee, former U.S. Representative James D. Martin of Gadsden, announced that he would challenge Heflin. But Martin switched to a second Senate race for a two-year term created by the sudden death of Senator James B. Allen, leaving Heflin without a Republican opponent.
  In March 1981, President Reagan was shot during an assassination attempt by John Hinckley Jr. outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., Hinckley being brought to trial fourteen months afterward. Heflin espoused the view that the time between the incident and the trial was part of the need for an overhauling of the criminal justice system "so it can more efficiently and effectively deal with the rising epidemic of violent crime in this nation" and noted the shootings of Pope John Paul II and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat as incidents that had happened after the Reagan shooting yet had already seen the assailants be convicted and either jailed or executed. Heflin stated that the delays in bringing defendants to trial formed "contempt for the system" in addition to denouncing the delays as part of the problem, calling for the Senate to form a "Crime Caucus" as part of an attempt to "put aside petty partisan politics and unite in an effort to wage a successful war on crime."
  In July 1981, Heflin announced he would introduce legislation calling for creation of a national court of appeals, and that such legislation would relieve the Supreme Court of some of its present burdens while increasing the national appellate capacity. The legislation was intended to also initiate a long-range study of the federal court system and call for major reforms in the American judiciary. Heflin noted that only 289 of the 4,242 petitions for hearings submitted to the Supreme Court in the previous year were granted and that a national appeals court would resolve feuds in the federal circuit courts.
  In 1984, Heflin won a second Senate term, handily defeating Republican former U.S. Representative Albert L. Smith Jr. of Birmingham, who had hoped to win by running on the reelection coattails of U.S. President Ronald W. Reagan. Heflin was reelected to a third term in 1990, defeating State Senator William J. Cabaniss, who later served as United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic under George W. Bush. Heflin did not run for reelection in 1996, and was succeeded by Republican Jeff Sessions.
  Heflin became chairman of the Select Committee on Ethics. While on the Ethics Committee, he led the prosecution against fellow Democratic senator Howard Cannon of Nevada for violations of Senate rules.
  As a conservative Democrat, he strongly opposed abortion rights and gun control. Heflin supported school prayer in public schools and opposed laws banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. He supported the Gulf War of 1991 and opposed cuts in defense spending. With Fritz Hollings of South Carolina, Heflin was one of only two Democrats in the Senate to vote against the Family and Medical Leave Act. He occasionally voted with Republicans on taxes.
  On other economic issues he was more allied with his party's populist wing. He voted against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and attempts to weaken enforcement of consumer protection measures. He strongly supported affirmative action laws. He voted against confirmation of Clarence Thomas to the United States Supreme Court, citing Thomas's lack of experience.
  In 1993 Heflin gave a memorable speech on the Senate floor in support of Senator Carol Moseley Braun's successful effort to deny renewal of a Confederate Flag design patent for the U
caption: Heflin greeting President Ronald Reagan in 1981
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