Thread by @marinklevy

I want to tell a story tonight about a special man who almost certainly would have had a seat on the Supreme Court had his health not failed him.

A man who served on the 8th Circuit alongside his own brother.

That man is Richard Arnold, and this is his ⚖️🧵 . . .

Richard Arnold was born in 1936 in Texarkana.⭐️

His brother later wrote, "One of my early memories is sitting around in our library listening to my 16-year-old brother teach our mother ancient Greek. (I wonder if there was anyone else in Miller County ... doing that that day?)"

Richard took his love of Greek to @Yale, where he studied classics.

He then attended @Harvard_Law, where he finished 🥇 in his class.

A clerkship with Justice Brennan followed . . . 🏛️

After years of practice in DC & back in Texarkana, he worked for Dale Bumpers – famed Governor & then Senator of Arkansas. 🐗

Then a *joint* seat on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of AR & the U.S. District Court for the Western District of AR opened up . . . ⚖️

And, as Richard later told it:

“[The Senator] said 'Richard, I want you to fix up a letter for me to sign to send to the President, recommending you to be a U.S. District Judge.'

So I wrote him a hell of a letter!”

✉️🔥

Richard received his commission in 1978 but didn’t keep it long as he was nominated in '79 to a new 🪑 on the 8th Circuit. (He was confirmed soon after.)

His brother, Morris, joined him on the court in 1992 - they are the only siblings to serve together on a federal court.👨‍⚖️👨‍⚖️

Judge Arnold developed a reputation as a top jurist.

Indeed, when Justice Blackmun retired from the Court in 1994 🏛️, President Clinton came very close to nominating Judge Arnold to his seat.

So close, in fact, that a speech announcing Judge Arnold’s nomination was drafted:

But tragically, Judge Arnold was battling cancer. In deciding what to do, Clinton took the extraordinary step of interviewing Judge Arnold's doctors personally.

When he ultimately decided against the nomination and called Judge Arnold with the news, Clinton reportedly wept.

Who got the nod instead? Judge Breyer.

Although their interview hadn't gone well – Clinton apparently found Breyer “aloof” – Breyer’s supporters persuaded the President that Breyer hadn't been himself that day, having been in pain from a recent 🚲 accident!

cc: @StrictScrutiny_

As for Judge Arnold, he served as Chief of the 8th Circuit from 1992 to '98. And then sadly, he passed away in 2004 – at the age of 68.

When he died, most of the Justices made statements about him, including Justice Breyer:

"He was a great judge and a marvelous human being."❤️

And here are a few others...

"A brilliant, brilliant man, Judge Arnold was a model of humility and self-deprecation. He worked tirelessly on behalf of the federal judiciary and as a federal judge."
- Justice Thomas

"My generation knew no finer federal judge."
- Justice Ginsburg

"Arnold was one of the great federal judges of our time. His carefully reasoned & beautifully written opinions were models of the art of judging. He has been a friend of mine since the days when he finished ahead of me (and 1st in the class) at Harvard Law School." - J. Scalia