after the Reagan shooting, yet had already seen the assailants be convicted and either jailed or executed. Heflin stated that the delays in bringing defendants to trial formed "contempt for the system", in addition to denouncing the delays as part of the problem, calling for the Senate to form a "Crime Caucus", as part of an attempt to "put aside petty partisan politics and unite in an effort to wage a successful war on crime". In July 1981, Heflin announced he would introduce legislation calling for the creation of a national court of appeals, and that such legislation would relieve the Supreme Court of some of its present burdens, while increasing the national appellate capacity. The legislation was intended to also initiate a long-range study of the federal court system, and call for major reforms in the American judiciary. Heflin noted that only 289 of the 4,242 petitions for hearings submitted to the Supreme Court in the previous year were granted, and that a national appeals court would resolve feuds in the federal circuit courts. In 1984, Heflin won a second Senate term, handily defeating Republican former U.S. Representative Albert L. Smith, Jr., of Birmingham, who had hoped to win by running on the re-election coattails of President Ronald Reagan. Heflin was re-elected to a third term in 1990, defeating State Senator William J. Cabaniss, who later served as United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic under George W. Bush. Heflin did not run for re-election in 1996, and was succeeded by Republican Jeff Sessions. In 1987, Heflin, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, voted against confirmation of Judge Robert Bork to the Supreme Court of the United States. Heflin became chairman of the Select Committee on Ethics. While on the Ethics Committee, he led the prosecution against fellow Democratic senator Howard Cannon of Nevada for violations of Senate rules. As a conservative Democrat, he strongly opposed abortion and gun control. Heflin supported school prayer in public schools, and opposed laws banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. He supported the Gulf War of 1991, and opposed cuts in defense spending. With Fritz Hollings of South Carolina, Heflin was one of only two Democrats in the Senate to vote against the Family and Medical Leave Act. He occasionally voted with Republicans on taxes. On other economic issues, he was more allied with his party's populist wing. He voted