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47-482: Baker was born in Pickens, South Carolina , the son of the town postmaster, and lived in a house on Hampton Avenue. He attended Pickens Elementary and Pickens High School, until he was 14 years old, when he received an appointment as a U.S. Senate page , with the help of Harold E. Holder. In 1942, Baker became a page for Senator Burnet Maybank , and quickly became friends with several important Democrats. When Lyndon Johnson

94-548: A close friend and aide to Lyndon B. Johnson ; and the Unification Church . Over a 50-year career, he also represented hundreds of ordinary immigrants in immigration proceedings. He spent his career in Washington, D.C., working in a small firm with a maximum of one or two other partners, including Jack Wasserman (1950–67), Charles Gordon (1974–1984), and Carliner's son-in-law, Robert A. Remes (1984–2003). Although Carliner

141-483: A heart attack in Washington, D.C. , on September 19, 2007. Throughout his career, Carliner used immigration law to pursue his goals of civil rights. Carliner's first major case was Naim v. Naim . A Chinese sailor named Hay Say Naim had married a white Virginian woman, Ruby Naim, and sought to obtain permanent residency through his marriage. When Ruby sought to annul the marriage on the grounds that Virginia law forbade

188-405: A household in the town was $ 26,364, and the median income for a family was $ 36,316. Males had a median income of $ 27,316 versus $ 19,706 for females. The per capita income for the town was $ 16,436. About 12.7% of families and 20.0% of the population were below the poverty line , including 26.5% of those under age 18 and 22.5% of those age 65 or over. Located three miles north of downtown on US 178

235-515: A letter in retaliation for Carliner leading a protest over a canceled football game and the university rescinded his admission. Instead, Carliner went first to American University and then to the University of Virginia , where he transferred to the law school before obtaining his bachelor's degree. While in college and law school, he continued to be active in left-wing politics against white supremacy and militarism, including organizing students for

282-462: A major power on Capitol Hill. He resigned due to misconduct allegations and a well-publicized scandal involving government contracts. He later served 18 months in prison for tax evasion . In 1978, he coauthored a memoir entitled Wheeling and Dealing , with Larry L. King . Baker frequently mixed politics with personal business. He was a founder and eventual treasurer of the Quorum Club , located in

329-461: A statewide Virginia Youth Conference in Charlottesville. This activity earned him the enmity of the university's dean, Ivey Lewis , and in 1940 he was expelled from the university after he was arrested for passing handbills in "the colored section of town," as the police report had it. Lewis and the university claimed that Carliner had not been expelled—that he had been denied readmission after

376-533: Is Hagood Mill , listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1972. Constructed in 1845 the grist mill was operational until the 1960s. There are monthly southern heritage festivals at the site, and stone ground corn meal and grits may be purchased. . Of particular interest are petroglyphs discovered in 2003, estimated to be 1,500 to 2,000 years old and possibly from the Hopewell culture . . A museum

423-460: Is a city in and the county seat of Pickens County , South Carolina , United States. The population was 3,126 at the 2010 census . Pickens changed its classification from a town to a city in 1998, but it was not reported to the Census Bureau until 2001. It was named after Andrew Pickens (1739–1817), an American revolutionary soldier and US Congressman for South Carolina. Pickens is part of

470-540: Is headquartered in Easley , a neighboring city. The city itself contains three elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. Pickens has a public library , a branch of the Pickens County Library System. David Carliner David Carliner ( ( 1918-08-13 ) August 13, 1918 – ( 2007-09-19 ) September 19, 2007) was an immigration, civil liberties, and civil rights lawyer in Washington, D.C. Among

517-616: Is land and 0.04 square mile (0.1 km ) (0.81%) is water. Pickens also has several small mountains that surround the city. Glassy Mountain , located east of Pickens, is a small mountain that can be reached by several small private roads. Glassy Mountain is an excellent example of a piedmont monadnock, which are rare in South Carolina. Sixty-five acres of the mountain are part of the South Carolina Heritage Trust, and contain varied and rare plant species. Perhaps one of

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564-519: Is planned for the historically significant site. The Old Pickens Jail is one of the few remaining early jails in Piedmont, South Carolina . It was constructed in 1903 and served as a detention facility and offices and living quarters for the county sheriff. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places and now serves the community as a museum. The School District of Pickens County

611-415: The 2020 United States census , there were 3,388 people, 1,190 households, and 764 families residing in the city. As of the census of 2000, there were 3,012 people, 1,281 households, and 794 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,227.1 inhabitants per square mile (473.8/km ). There were 1,438 housing units at an average density of 585.8 per square mile (226.2/km ). The racial makeup of

658-681: The Fremont Hotel in Las Vegas picked up references to Baker. The FBI agent notified FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover of the references early in 1963 because, "I thought it was important for Washington to be aware of the possible political influence of Ed Levinson." Levinson and Benjamin Seigelbaum arranged with an Oklahoma City bank for a $ 400,000 start-up loan for the Serv-U Corporation to buy equipment and supplies. The Serv-U Corporation deal became

705-746: The Greenville – Mauldin – Easley Metropolitan Statistical Area . Present-day Pickens of Pickens County was previously Cherokee Territory. During the American Revolutionary War , the Cherokee sided with the Kingdom of Great Britain . When Great Britain was defeated in the war, the Cherokee were forced to surrender their land. In 1791, the state legislature established Washington District that comprises present-day Greenville , Anderson , Oconee , and Pickens Counties. In 1798 Washington District

752-562: The "Breazeale site", southwest of town. Schlumberger paid $ 11.8 million to federal and state agencies for injuries to natural resources caused by the contamination. Pickens is located at 34°52′54″N 82°42′27″W  /  34.88167°N 82.70750°W  / 34.88167; -82.70750 (34.881700, -82.707477). According to the United States Census Bureau , the town had a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.4 km ), of which 2.5 square miles (6.3 km )

799-627: The ACLU's amicus brief in Boutilier v. INS , a case in which the Supreme Court permitted the government to exclude sexual minorities from the United States. In addition to these cases Carliner represented "World Citizen" Garry Davis ; leftist professor Staughton Lynd ; Romanian engineer and dissident Nicolae Malaxa ; New Orleans mobster Carlos Marcello ; a vending machine company against Bobby Baker ,

846-659: The Baker investigation was dropped. Baker, however, was convicted of tax evasion and spent 18 months in prison. In the 1964 presidential election , Republican candidate Senator Barry Goldwater in speeches and campaign materials brought up the Bobby Baker scandal as an issue against Johnson, demanding Johnson bring the issue out into the open. In 2017, Baker died on his 89th birthday in St. Augustine, Florida. Pickens, South Carolina Pickens , formerly called Pickens Courthouse ,

893-525: The Carroll Arms Hotel adjacent to the Senate office building. The society was a place for lawmakers and other influential men to meet for networking and illicit carousing away from the press who hung around the hotel lobby. Baker later explained, "The Quorum Club, of all the things I was involved in, it is the most insignificant thing... It was a place where a guy wanted to get away, you know, from being at

940-687: The Majority Leader on October 7, 1963. According to author Evan Thomas , Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy , President Kennedy's younger brother, was able to arrange a deal with J. Edgar Hoover to quell mention of the Rometsch allegations in the Senate investigation of Bobby Baker. Hoover successfully limited the Senate investigation of Baker by threatening to release embarrassing information about senators contained in FBI files. In exchange for this favor, Robert Kennedy assured Hoover that his job as FBI Director

987-460: The Pickens District was divided for a final time, into Pickens and Oconee counties. Pickens Court House relocated to its present-day site and was renamed to Pickens. The Pickens Railway was established in 1898 as a shortline railroad from Easley to Pickens. From 1955 until 1987, Sangamo-Weston Inc. operated a capacitor manufacturing facility just outside Pickens. Until they were banned in

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1034-581: The US, Sangamo discharged a significant amount of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into a tributary of the Twelve Mile River which feeds into Lake Hartwell . Sangamo also dumped contaminated waste in six locations in the vicinity of Pickens. In two of these locations, the waste was burned, forming more dangerous dioxins . According to the Spartanburg Herald-Journal , contamination was discovered at

1081-504: The United States. In 1962, Baker established the Serv-U Corporation with his friend, Fred Black. The company was designed to provide vending machines for companies working for programs established under federal grants. Though a part of numerous other deals involving both politics and private financial affairs, this particular business venture would cause a scandal. In November 1962, electronic microphones ("bugs") in Ed Levinson 's office at

1128-530: The [Majority] Leader and Senator Johnson the Whip , Johnson talked Senator McFarland into making Baker the assistant Secretary for the Majority." Baker quickly became Johnson's protégé. Baker was eventually promoted to Secretary to the Majority Leader in 1953, who at the time was a Democrat; this was his highest-ranking official position, and the position from which he would later resign. Prior to resigning, Baker had been

1175-542: The bar downstairs at the Carroll Arms, where there were too many reporters or too many gawkers. It was an easy place for a lobbyist to get together with a Senator, or a Senator's girlfriend. ... I was very close to all the administrative assistants and legislative assistants. I would say 90% were like me. [We] All had girlfriends. And the Quorum Club was a place that you could be met there and nobody would know about it. It

1222-450: The earliest practitioners of American immigration and naturalization law, he was an early combatant of anti-miscegenation laws, challenged the segregation of public accommodations, and fought for the rights of sexual minorities to enter the country and have full employment rights in the federal government. Carliner was chair of the District of Columbia Home Rule Committee and was responsible for

1269-619: The first modern home rule reforms in 1967. He served as the general counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union (1976–1979); helped to found the ACLU's National Capital Area chapter and Global Rights (then called the International Human Rights Law Group); and served on the boards of the ACLU (1965–1983), the American Jewish Committee (1969–1971), and a variety of other organizations. He

1316-616: The grounds of his having been previously arrested for unspecified "homosexual conduct". Chief Judge David L. Bazelon of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Scott's "homosexual conduct" was, without further specification, insufficient proof of "immoral conduct". The case did not create a legal right for gay federal workers not to be fired from their jobs, but, wrote The Washington Post , "no federal court has gone so far as this opinion in strongly suggesting that homosexual conduct may not be an absolute disqualification for Government jobs." Later, Carliner worked with Burt Neuborne on

1363-552: The interracial marriage to begin with, Carliner tried to take the case all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States . His goal was to extend the recent Brown v. Board of Education , but in fact Brown' s proximity worked against him. The US Supreme Court eventually refused to rule, because, as Justice Tom C. Clark said, "one bombshell at a time is enough." As a result, the Virginia Supreme Court 's decision that

1410-547: The long, patient efforts of the Home Rule Committee and its chairman, David Carliner," wrote The Washington Post editorial board. The American Constitution Society honors Carliner's legacy with the annual David Carliner Public Interest Award for young public interest lawyers working in civil rights, civil liberties, immigrant rights, or international human rights. His law firm, Carliner and Remes, P.C., continues to bear his name. The Carliner Family Papers, comprising

1457-466: The most famous mountains in the area is Table Rock State Park , located just to the north of Pickens, but still in the Pickens area, which has been a symbol for Pickens and can be seen throughout Pickens and nearby cities such as Easley and Greenville . In addition to Table Rock Mountain, the park contains Pinnacle Mountain, the highest mountain contained entirely within the state of South Carolina. As of

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1504-702: The personal and political papers of David and Miriam Carliner, are held by the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library . The Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit holds an oral history with Carliner. During his lifetime, Carliner won the Oliver Wendell Holmes Award (in 1966) from the ACLU and the Immigration Law Lifetime Achievement Award (in 1994) from the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law . He

1551-427: The state had the right "to regulate the marriage relation so that it shall not have a mongrel breed of citizens" would stand until Loving v. Virginia in 1967. In the late 1950s, he brought lawsuits contesting Virginia's Public Assemblages Act requiring segregation at public meetings. Through his association with the American Civil Liberties Union , Carliner was also involved in two major gay rights cases and

1598-686: The subject of allegations of conflict of interest and corruption after a disgruntled former government contractor, represented by David Carliner , sued Baker and Black in civil court. That lawsuit eventually generated a great deal of press. In September 1963, an investigation was begun by the Republican-led Senate Rules Committee into Baker's business and political activities. Baker was investigated for allegations of bribery using money allocated by Congress and arranging sexual favors in exchange for votes and government contracts. Under increasing criticism, Baker resigned as Secretary to

1645-581: The summer for using another student's library card—but Carliner briefly became a cause célèbre. He eventually received his LL.B. in 1941 from National University School of Law which, ironically, later merged with the George Washington University Law School . After his expulsion from university, Carliner was drafted into the Army in 1941, where he was prevented from entering Officer Candidate School because of his left-wing politics; he

1692-544: The town was 80.54% White , 16.80% African American , 0.07% Native American , 0.37% Asian , 1.06% from other races , and 1.16% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.49% of the population. There were 1,281 households, out of which 27.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.8% were married couples living together, 17.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.0% were non-families. 34.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.6% had someone living alone who

1739-448: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.88. In the town the population was spread out, with 22.5% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 21.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 82.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.0 males. The median income for

1786-524: Was a social club." A particular encounter involved the president and a socialite, "One time I was in there and Ellen Rometsch was at my table. She was as pretty as Elizabeth Taylor. She was married to a sergeant in the German Army, but stationed at their embassy in Washington. She was sort of like me. She was ambitious. She'd come from Germany broke." Baker alleged that one of " President Kennedy's best friends and his wingman, [lobbyist] Bill Thompson

1833-401: Was an early legal activist for gay rights. He was a leading advocate within the ACLU to treat gay rights as a civil liberties issue. Working with Frank Kameny , he developed a legal strategy that challenged directly the constitutionality of anti-gay discrimination. In Scott v. Macy , Carliner tested this strategy by representing Bruce Scott, who had been fired from a federal government job on

1880-554: Was discharged in 1945 and spent about a year as an assistant JAG . After his time with the Army, Carliner spent a couple of years with the New Council of American Business , a pro- New Deal organization with close links to Henry Wallace . In 1944, he married Miriam Kalter, a refugee from Nazi Germany ; she worked for the federal government in various programs on poverty and sex discrimination. They had two children, Geoffrey, an economist, and Deborah, an attorney. Carliner died of

1927-534: Was divided into Greenville and Pendleton districts. The Pendleton district eventually became Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens County. Pendleton District was divided in 1828 into Anderson and Pickens. A courthouse was established on the banks of the Keowee River where the town of Pickens Court House was developed. The Hagood-Mauldin House was built circa 1856 and is one of the historic structures of Pickens County. In 1868,

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1974-462: Was elected to the Senate in 1948, John Connally took Baker in to introduce him to Senator-elect Johnson. "Johnson jumped up and said, 'Mr. Baker, they tell me you're the smartest son of a bitch over there.' I said, 'Well, whoever told you that lied.' I said, 'I know all of the staff on our side. I know who the drunks are. And I know whose word is good.' He said, 'You're the man I want to know.' So they became great friends. After Senator McFarland became

2021-453: Was not involved in Baker's business dealings after 1960, the Senate investigation looked into their questionable financial activities in the 1950s. This was such a problem for Johnson that there were rumors he would be dropped from the 1964 presidential ticket. After word of the assassination of John F. Kennedy reached Washington on November 22, 1963, the Senate investigation was delayed. Thereafter, any investigation of Lyndon Johnson as part of

2068-603: Was primarily an attorney, he sought social and political change in a variety of other ways, including through writing newspaper articles and testifying before congress. Most importantly, he was the chair of the District of Columbia Home Rule Committee from 1966 to 1970. He designed and spearheaded Lyndon Johnson's 1967 Reorganization Plan—called the Carliner Plan at the time—which replaced the three commissioners with an appointed mayor and city council. "Washingtonians owe warm thanks to

2115-593: Was secure. Robert Kennedy also agreed to allow the FBI to proceed with wiretaps that Hoover had requested on Martin Luther King Jr. to try to prove King's close confidants and advisers were communists . Although Kennedy only gave written approval for limited wiretapping of King's phones "on a trial basis, for a month or so", Hoover extended the clearance so his men were "unshackled" to look for evidence in any areas of King's life they deemed worthy. Even though Lyndon Johnson

2162-515: Was the author of the ACLU's 1977 handbook on immigrants' rights and a coauthor of its 1990 revision. Carliner was the youngest of four children of Leon Carliner, a Jewish immigrant grocer from what is now Belarus , and the former Cassie Brooks, who had immigrated from Kremenchuk (present-day Ukraine ). He attended McKinley High School in Washington and was active in leftist politics while still in high school. He planned to go to George Washington University until his high school principal wrote

2209-622: Was there too, and he came over to me and he said, 'where in the hell did you get this beautiful girl?' And Bill Thompson asked me if she could go have dinner with the President. So I arranged for Ellen Rometsch to go to Bill Thompson's apartment and he took her to the White House on many occasions." Rometsch was of German origin. As a youth, she had been a Socialist Unity Party member in East Germany before fleeing with her parents and then coming to

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