High Court Opens Oct. 5: O’Connor Steps Into History

WASHINGTON – Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, feeling “just great” about taking her place in history, is ready to begin work as the first woman on the Supreme Court. As President Reagan and 500 other spectators looked on, Justice Connor was sworn in Friday as the high court’s newest membei.:. On Monday, Justice O’Connor and her eight colleagues will begin a week of closed-door discussions on the more than 1,000 cases that have been building up over the summer. THE NEW JUSTICE has told reporters that she will be taking part in the conferences as the court gets ready for the Oct. 5 opening of its 1981-82 term. The court has been asked to review, among other issues, the legality of denying pre-trial freedom to all people accused of certain crimes; a state law making it a crime to “promote” non-obscene sexual performances by children; and a case that followed the death of Kerr-McGee Corp. employee Karen G. Silkwood, who was active in labor organizing efforts 1 at the plutonium plant and investigating allegedly unsafe conditions. But Friday, Justice O’Connor and her family enjoyed one last day of pomp and ceremony, capping her transition frolll an Arizo!)a appeals court judge to Supreme Court justice that began ‘ with Reagan’s announcement of her selection last July 7. WITH REAGAN and his wife, Nancy, sitting in 1 the front of the courtroom, Justice O’Connor swore her allegiance to the Constitution, and, in just a six• minute ceremony, ended a 191-year history of male exclusivity on the