Supreme Court nominee is a woman

President Reagan ended two centuries of male exclusivity in the Supreme Court today by nominating Mrs Sandra O’Connor, a judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals, to succeed Justice Potter Stewart, who is retiring. If confirmed she will be the first appointment to the Supreme Court for six years. President Reagan announced her nomination in the White House press office, describing her as ” truly a person for all seasons, possessing those unique qualities of temperament: fairness, intellectual capacity and devotion to public good “. During last year’s election campaign, President Reagan said he would name a woman to the Supreme Court, but yesterday he emphasized he had chosen Mrs O’Connor mainly because she agreed with his judicial philosophy that it is the court’s duty to interpret the law and not to make it. Mrs O’Connor, who is 51, has enjoyed a meteoric rise through Arizona’s political and judicial circles . She served two full terms in the Arizona State Sen ate, where she became majority leader, the first woman in the United States to be elected to such a post. In 1975, she was elected a superior court judge in Phoenix, and was promoted to the Arizona Court of Appeals 18 months ago. Despite her conservative inclinations, she has supported feminists on abortion legislation and the equal rights amendment. The National Right to Life Committee has already announced that anti-abortionists will oppose her confirmation. Just ice Stewart, whom she will be replacing, often swung between