Hearings were significant event

Whatever else the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings may have accomplished they provided a rare insight into the workings of the American legal system. _ As Supreme Court justice nominee ,Sandra Day O’Connor cautiously threaded her way through the barrage of senatorial questions, televison viewers received an education in constitutional law. Questions of constitutionality, formerly . the province of legal scholars and lawyers, took on meaning for thousands of event television viewers and a whole lexicon of , legal terms was added to the nation’s vocabulary. The give and take between , the senators and Judge O’Connor provided a lesson in the landmark cases which influenced the course of American history. Politics and senatorial showmanship aside, the hearings were important for another reason. In contrast to so much of the world where justice has been replaced by slave labor camps or worse, the Senate proceedings were a living example of the American commitment to rule by law.