O’Connor in capital to meet with Reagan

WASHINGTON (UPI) – Judge Sandra O’Connor went directly to the White House Monday upon arriving in Washington for a series of crucial meetings on her nomination to become the first woman on the Supreme Court. O’Connor, President Reagan’s choice to fill the first high court vacancy in six years, was met at National Airport in late afternoon by Attorney General William French Smith and driven to the White House. A White House spokesman called the Monday gathering a “preliminary, get-to-know-you” session. It involved Smith and members of the president’s congressional liaison staff charged with shepherding her nomination through the Senate. Judge O’Connor was to begin a round of meetings with Justice Department officials and key members of the Senate this morning and meet with the president on Wednesday. O’Connor, a member of the Arizona Court of Appeals, has been attacked for her record on abortion and for supporting the Equal Rights Amendment. But Sen. Barry Goldwater – her leading backer – issued a statement Monday lauding the 51-year-old judge for having the “basic conservative philosophy” . needed on the high court. She told a brief airport news conference she hopes to lay to rest controversy generated by her selection during her visits with Senate leaders and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will pass judgment on her nomination. “I am advised this is customary for a nominee to the court,” she said shortly after arriving from her home in Phoenix. O’Connor said