Panel OKs Rehnquist, 13-5--Scalia Is Approved, 18-0

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination of William H. Rehnquist to be chief justice of the United States on a 13-5 vote Thursday, despite charges by some Democrats that a “cloud” hangs over the nominee.

Democratic critics said that committee hearings showed Rehnquist to be less than honest about his past and insensitive to the rights of minorities and women.

But Republicans, holding firm behind President Reagan’s choice, complained that Rehnquist during four days of grueling hearings had “everything but the kitchen sink thrown at him,” in the words of Sen. Paul Laxalt (R-Nev.).

After the vote, civil rights leaders pledged an all-out fight against the Rehnquist nomination on the Senate floor in early September.

But barring new and damaging disclosures, committee members--both Democrats and Republicans--said they expect Rehnquist to win final approval as the nation’s 16th chief justice.

Meanwhile, Judge Antonin Scalia won the committee’s unanimous approval to take Rehnquist’s place as an associate justice. Unlike Rehnquist’s, Scalia’s nomination so far has been the subject of virtually uninterrupted praise.

“We would be hard pressed to find someone better qualified by intellect, judicial temperament and learning to be on the Supreme Court,” Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) said of Scalia, a former attorney and law professor and now a District of Columbia circuit court judge. If confirmed, he would be the first Italian-American to sit on the high court.

The committee’s vote in favor of Rehnquist was not in doubt Thursday, since all 10 Republicans had said they would back Reagan’s nominee.

They noted that Reagan won the elections of 1980 and 1984 after pledging to nominate for judicial openings conservative judges who would follow a philosophy of “judicial restraint.”

‘Nagging Doubts’

“If Justice Rehnquist is an extremist, then so is the President and so are the American people,” Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said.

Nevertheless, the Democrats said, and several Republicans agreed, the committee hearings had raised what Leahy called “nagging doubts” about Rehnquist.

Five witnesses testified that Rehnquist, then a Phoenix attorney, harassed minority voters as a Republican poll watcher in 1962 and 1964, a charge that the justice “categorically denied.”

As a Supreme Court law clerk in 1953, Rehnquist wrote a memo endorsing the “separate but equal” doctrine of racial segregation, which the court would unanimously overturn a year later. Rehnquist said during the hearings that the views stated were not his, but those of then Justice Robert Jackson. On Thursday, Democratic members said they doubted his candor in those responses.

Vote on Army Spy Plan

As a top lawyer in the Nixon Administration’s Justice Department, Rehnquist supported the Army’s plan to spy on civilian protesters during the Vietnam War. When this same issue came before the Supreme Court in the case of Laird vs. Tatum in 1972, Rehnquist--to the dismay of both the plaintiffs and many legal scholars--cast the deciding vote to uphold the Army’s position.

The hearings also revealed that deeds to homes owned by Rehnquist in Arizona and in Vermont contained covenants barring their sale to blacks or Jews. In response, the justice called these restrictions “obnoxious” and noted that they were legally unenforceable.

Finally, a confidential medical report also found that as a result of severe back pain, Rehnquist in 1981 became “dependent” on Placidyl, a prescribed painkiller.

Reputation Overrides Doubts

The committee’s middle-of-the-road Republicans, such as Sens. Charles McC. Mathias Jr. of Maryland and Arlen K. Specter of Pennsylvania, and moderate Democrats, such as Sens. Dennis DeConcini of Arizona, Howell Heflin of Alabama and Minority Leader Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, said that one or several of the charges were “disturbing” and “beclouded” the nomination. But all voted for Rehnquist, saying that his reputation as a brilliant justice and an honest man overrode their doubts.

“While there are those who may disagree with his opinions, there is little doubt to me that he is an able advocate, an able jurist and a fair arbiter,” Heflin said.

Voting against Rehnquist were Democrats Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, Howard M. Metzenbaum of Ohio, Paul Simon of Illinois and Leahy.

Encourages Rights Leaders

Civil rights leaders were encouraged by the five “no” votes.

“The battle has just begun,” said Ralph Neas, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, a coalition of 185 groups. “That was one more vote than against Carswell,” he said, noting that the Senate rejected President Richard M. Nixon’s nomination of G. Harrold Carswell in 1970 after he gained the approval of the Judiciary Committee.