O’Connor: With this nomination, Reagan has maintained the trust of the people

No Supreme Court Justice named in the past half century even begins to rival in importance the president who made the appointment. So put aside as momentary overexcitement the spate of recent comment asserting that presidents chiefly make history by their selections for the court. Even in that perspective, however, President Reagan’s choice of Sandra Day O’Connor casts a long shadow. Not only does the president break a pattern of sex discrimination, he also delivers on a campaign promise in a way that fosters faith in the system. Finally, he shores up the court – or at least works against deterioration – by naming a judge with affinities to its shifting center as against its two extremes.

The honorific. status of the court, whatever else may be in question, does not admit doubt. The Supreme Court is the most dignified of our institutions, the holy of holies in the American system, the “ark of the national covenant.” Groups accustomed to view themselves as outsiders inevitably attach high importance to being included in. The nomination of Louis Brandeis was a milestone for American Jews, as was the designation of Thurgood Marshall for blacks. The just claim of women to a more equal role thus finds a fit cause for satisfaction in the nomination of Judge O’Connor to the highest tribunal in the . land. President Reagan, of course, did not exactly promise that he would name a woman to the court. But he did commit himself in the campaign to fill “one of the first Supreme Court vacancies”