ELWYN B. ROBINSON DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
CHESTER FRITZ LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA
GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA 58202

NORTH DAKOTA CITIZENS CLEAN COURT COMMITTEE RECORDS

COLLECTION: OGL #968

DATES: 1921-1922, 1984

SIZE: 1 folder

INTRODUCTION

ACQUISITION: The North Dakota Citizens Clean Court Committee Records were deposited in the Orin G. Libby Manuscript Collection in April 1984 (Acc. #84-1293). A portion of the collection was photocopied from the Institute for Regional Studies at North Dakota State University.

ACCESS: Available for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Department of Special Collections.

RELATED COLLECTION: OGL#1025, Andrew Miller Papers

HISTORICAL SKETCH

The North Dakota Citizens Clean Court Committee was established in Fargo, North Dakota on December 30, 1921. It was established to actively oppose the confirmation of Andrew Miller as Federal Judge for North Dakota. The group consisted of a number of politicians and newspaper publishers from across the state.

The Clean Court Committee charged Miller, a former North Dakota Attorney General, with several charges of corruption. It was alleged that Miller had been paid by the Northern Pacific Railroad to lower taxes on its property. It was also charged that Miller had bribed several state legislators to lower the gas tax on behalf of the Standard Oil Company. Miller served as the personal attorney for prominent North Dakota figure Alexander McKenzie. The Committee charged that Miller was guilty of helping McKenzie corrupt a federal judge in Nome, Alaska.

Miller’s nomination was supported by a number of prominent persons, including former North Dakota Governor John Burke, North Dakota Senator Porter J. McCumber, and Judge Charles Amidon, who Miller was to replace on the federal bench. Despite the efforts of the Committee, Andrew Miller was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 2, 1922. He remained a Federal Judge until he retired in 1941. Miller died in March 1960.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The North Dakota Citizens Clean Court Committee Records date from 1921-1922, and consist of correspondence and telegrams, primarily to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee. Also included is a thirty-page Secretary’s Report which outlines the history and actions of the Clean Court Committee, and a “Memorandum of Understanding” which discusses its origin.

Also included is a 1984 UND seminar paper written by Mark Halverson entitled "Here Comes the Judge." The paper is ten pages in length, and traces the history of the Miller confirmation hearings.

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