Supreme Pressure: The Rejection of John J. Parker and the Birth of the Modern Supreme Court Confirmation Process.
This book examines the 1930 Supreme Court nomination of John J. Parker, a turning point in American judicial politics. Alarmed by some of his past statements and opinions, labor and civil rights groups mounted a fierce campaign to block his confirmation. Not only was control of the Supreme Court hanging in the balance, but Parker’s nomination symbolized a profound clash of ideologies, political agendas, economic doctrines, and interpretations of the Constitution. Their efforts sparked a dramatic Senate revolt, marking the first successful grassroots campaign to block a Supreme Court nominee.
By exploring the circumstances of Parker’s rejection, this book traces how that battle laid the foundation for today’s highly partisan and contentious confirmation process. The book also reintroduces Parker as a consequential but largely forgotten figure in American jurisprudence—one whose rulings helped shape the South’s legal response to Brown v. Board of Education. Beyond the nomination fight, it delves into Parker’s political campaigns, judicial opinions, and relationships with key public figures, charting his dramatic rise, humiliating defeat, and enduring influence.
Packed with intrigue, strategy, and the clash of competing ideologies, this is the story of how one nomination forever changed the rules of the game. (Palgrave Macmillan, 2026)
Praise for Supreme Pressure:
For those struggling to understand how the Supreme Court has devolved into a partisan arena, the roots of this politicization of the judicial system are wisely revealed in Victor Li’s Supreme Pressure: The Rejection of John J. Parker and Birth of the Modern Supreme Court Confirmation Process. Li tracks in detail Herbert Hoover’s failed 1930 nomination of John J. Parker to the Supreme Court – a contest that revealed the early power of interest groups to determine the success or failure of those chosen to sit on the nation’s highest court. Supreme Pressure provides crucial insight into the selection of judicial candidates dominated by special interests on the left and right, and the consequent emergence of a Court split into two camps. — Thomas Byrne Edsall, The New York Times.
Fights over Supreme Court nominations are not new. Victor Li has written a riveting account of how in 1930 the Senate narrowly rejected the nomination of Judge John J. Parker because of his views on civil rights and labor issues. It is the biography of an impressive and important figure in the twentieth century, but it also a tale of how politics are an inevitable part of the judicial confirmation process. — Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean, UC Berkeley Law School
Victor Li’s in-depth research and diligence in unearthing the facts regarding Hon. John J. Parker affords his readers the luxury of being able to focus their attention on whether John Parker missed the cues that some of those who would decide his fate believed important — that not only must he follow the law to be an effective Supreme Court justice but he must assure the law he follows is just. Mr. Li’s portrayal of both Judge Parker and the political and ideological times in which he fought for confirmation could not be more relevant to the shaping of the Supreme Court today. — Judy Perry Martinez, of counsel at Simon, Peragine, Smith & Redfearn, LLP and former President of the American Bar Association.