 Geographic balance was sought in the 1970s , when Nixon attempted to employ a " Southern strategy " , hoping to secure support from Southern states by nominating judges from the region . Nixon unsuccessfully nominated Southerners Clement Haynsworth of South Carolina and G. Harrold Carswell of Georgia , before finally succeeding with the nomination of Harry Blackmun of Minnesota . The issue of regional diversity was again raised with the 2010 retirement of John Paul Stevens , who had been appointed from the midwestern Seventh Circuit , leaving the Court with all but one Justice having been appointed from states on the East Coast . 
