Judge O’Connor is assailed again by conservatives

Republic Wire Services W ASIDNGTON – Conservative groups intensified their attack on Supreme Court nominee Sandra O’Connor on Thursday despite Republican predictions of victory and Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., telling them to “back off.” Goldwater, Judge O’Connor’s leading supporter, declared in a Senate speech that “a lot of foolish claptrap” has been circulated about her positions OD issues. Though supporters of Judge O’Connor tried to shield her from criticism on the volatile abortion issue, a conservative coalition suggested that a cover-up of sorts may have colored the decision to pick her as the first woman on the high court. The coalition said that because of an “apparent cover-up,” the president did not find out about what it contends was Judge O’Connor’s vote in favor of abortions on demand and her support of the Equal Rights Amendment during her term as an Arizona state senator. The group claimed that a Justice Department memo by Kenneth Starr, counselor to Attomey General William French Smith, who led the search for a new Supreme Court justice, failed to acknowledge Judge O’Connor’s voting record. President Reagan is said to have relied heavily on that memo in choosing Judge O’Connor to succeed retired Justice Potter Stewart. “The information we have on her abortion record, when compared with the memorandum … shows an apparent prima facie cover-up, either on the part of Mrs. O’Connor or on the part of the attorney general’s office, or both .. !’ charged Kathleen