Howell Heflin, former Alabama senator, dies

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Former Sen. Howell Heflin, an influential voice on judicial nominations, including the tumultuous hearings for Clarence Thomas, has died. He was 83.

Heflin was an old-line Southern Democrat with an easy, folksy charm that made him one of Alabama's most popular political figures.

"He had the personality to go one-on-one with voters, with farmers in rural areas. He knew how to interact with a voter and give that voter a moment in the sunshine, let them know somebody in power cared about them," said political scientist Jess Brown of Athens State University.

Heflin, who had suffered from heart ailments and diabetes, died Tuesday at Keller Hospital in Sheffield.

As a member of the Judiciary Committee, the three-term Democratic senator served during the 1991 fight over Thomas' nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, when Thomas' former aide, Anita Hill, accused Thomas of sexual harassment.