First Woman joins Supreme Court

WASHINGTON (AP) – In a six-minute ceremony, Sandra Day O’Connor broke through two centuries of male exclusivity and donned her robe Friday as an associate justice of the Supreme Court. With President Reagan, her family and 500 other guests looking on, Mrs. O’Connor stood beside Chief Justice Warren E. Burger and promised to “support and defend the Constitution” and faithfully carry out her duties. “On behalf of all the members of the court and retired Justice Potter Stewart, it is a pleasure to extend to you a very warm welcome to the court and to wish you a very long life and a long and happy career in our common calling,” Burger said in welcoming the court’s newest member and its first woman. Mrs. O’Connor, who will be ad dressed by her brethren as “Justice O’Connor” – no courtesy title – was preceded by 101 men, dating to the court’s founding in 1790. The ceremony got under way late, at 2:12 p.m., and was over six minutes later. Sitting across from Justice O’Connor in the front of the courtroom were President and Nancy Reagan; her husband, Phoenix lawyer John J. O’Connor III; and sons Scott, 23, Brian, 21, and Jay, 20. There, too, were her parents, Harry and Ada Mae Day. Next to the president was retired Justice Stewart, whose retirement last July 3 opened the way for Reagan to keep his campaign promise to nominate the first woman to the high court. She had earlier told news reporters that she felt “just great” about taking her place in history. The ceremony began as Mrs.