Judge O’Connor wins praise at hearing

Judge Sandra Day O’Connor, her confirmation to the Supreme Court all but assured, completed a second day of testimony at Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings today. She answered questions about her views on subjects from criminal law to women in military combat as members of the committee praised her record, her stamina and her prospects to become the first woman to serve on the Court.
While some Senators persisted in questioning he r views on abortion,and some scattered anti-abortion pickets remained at their post outside the Senate Office Building, the tone of the hearing was considerably more relaxed than at yesterday’s opening. At a midday recess, Judge O’Connor, her husband, John, and their three sons were guests of hon or at a lunch given by the Judiciary Committee’s chairman, Strom Thurmond, Republican of South Carolina.

”I’m proud of you,” Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, told Judge O’Connor as he completed his questioning. ”I’ll be proud to see you serve on the Supreme Court.”

Senator Jeremiah Denton, Republican of Alabama, said, ”I have a tremendous respect for you as a woman who has filled the indispensible roles of wife and mother and who has then gone on to professional accomplishment in pretty much of an ideal format.”

Working for Women’s Rights

After Judge O’Connor indicated that she did not think it would be appropriate to campaign from the Court for adoption of the proposed Federal equal rights amendment, she was exhorted by one