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Roman L. Hruska Dies at 94; Leading Senate Conservative

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April 27, 1999, Section B, Page 8Buy Reprints
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Roman L. Hruska, who served 22 years as a conservative Republican senator from Nebraska, died on Sunday at Clarkson Hospital in Omaha. He was 94 and had wielded considerable influence on the Judiciary Committee.

Senator Hruska was the ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary Committee when he retired in 1976. In 1974, he was one of the leaders in the Senate who engineered restoration of the death penalty for certain Federal crimes.

He was a fierce opponent of what he regarded as excessive violence and pornography in films and on television and sponsored many bills to curb them. He also took the lead in opposition to gun control. Together with Senator Sam J. Ervin Jr., a North Carolina Democrat, he pressed to establish a national board, representing elements of the entire criminal justice system, to regulate the handling of all computerized criminal history information .

He fought to maintain criminal penalties for marijuana. His record on labor and social policy earned him a zero rating from the A.F.L.-C.I.O

But it was his defense of President Richard M. Nixon's nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge G. Harrold Carswell of Tallahassee, Fla., that brought him some uncomfortable celebrity in 1970.

Liberal Democrats had mounted a strong campaign against Judge Carswell, a member of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Florida, contending that he was too ''mediocre'' to deserve a seat on the nation's highest court.

When Senator Hruska addressed the Senate in March 1970, speaking on Judge Carswell's behalf, he asked why mediocrity should be a disqualification for high office.

''Even if he were mediocre,'' Mr. Hruska declared, ''there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren't they, and a little chance? We can't have all Brandeises, Frankfurters and Cardozos.''

The Democrats gleefully jumped on Mr. Hruska's argument, reducing it to ''What's wrong with a little mediocrity?''

Mr. Hruska defended his remarks, arguing that the negative reaction had been inspired by hostility to Judge Carswell as a Southerner, not as a mediocrity.

The Carswell nomination was defeated, and the Supreme Court seat went to Harry S. Blackmun.

Roman Lee Hruska was born in David City, Neb., the son of an immigrant from Bohemia. He graduated from the University of Omaha, the University of Chicago Law School and received his L.L.B in 1929 from the Creighton University College of Law in Omaha. He built a successful law practice in Omaha, but turned to politics and was elected to the House of Representatives in 1952. His strong record in support of the Eisenhower Administration gained attention and when Senator Hugh Butler died in July 1954, he was chosen by the Republicans as their candidate to replace him. Mr. Hruska easily defeated his Democratic opponent in a special election and went on to serve the remaining four years of Senator Butler's term. He was re-elected in 1958, 1964 and 1970.

Senator Hruska's wife, the former Victoria E. Kuncl, died before him. He is survived by two sons, Roman Hruska Jr. and Quentin Hruska, both of Omaha; a daughter, Jana Fagan of Royal Oak, Md; a brother, Richard Hruska of Fresno, Calif.; two sisters, Irma Kolar of Springfield, Ill., and Carolyn Chapek of Omaha, and five grandchildren.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section B, Page 8 of the National edition with the headline: Roman L. Hruska Dies at 94; Leading Senate Conservative. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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