As the first female Supreme Court Justice and the first female state majority leader, Justice O’Connor’s story has inspired many journalists, authors, cartoonists, and groups to celebrate her experience. This catalog explores the media coverage she received throughout her career.
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recognized she was not going to be acceptable to conservatives so they rushed this thing.” An associate of Falwell said, “The church people would desert him (Reagan) in droves .” “President Reagan’s nomination of Judge Sandra O’Connor of Arizona to the Supreme Court is a mistake.” Falwell said in a statement released by associate Cal Thomas. “Either the president did not have sufficient information about Judge O’Connor’s background in social issues or he chose to ignore that information.
“Judge O’Connor’s record indicates she is not an opponent of abortion on demand and is opposed to attempts to curb this biological holocaust that has taken the lives of more than 10 million innocent babies since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision by the Supreme Court” that legalized abortion. “Judge O’Connor also has been active in feminist causes and is a supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment, which Moral Majority believes would be a disaster for men and women and would further undermine the traditional family … ”
Nancy Kramer, executive director of the Committee for Public Justice, a New York-based affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, urged that O’Connor’s background be checked before Senate confirmation hearings begin. Kramer is also head of a project called “Supreme Court Watch” which the committee set up last January to compile dossiers on who were considered to be the likeliest nominees for the Supreme Court vacancy. The nomination of O’Connor, a 51-year-old former state
By PETER BROCK Herald-Post Staff Writer Copyright 1981 El Paso Herald-Post
RAILROAD DRAW, GREENLEE COUNTY, Ariz. – The quiet Lazy B ranchhouse suddenly erupted early today with a flurry of congratulatory phone calls to Harry and Ada Mae Day, who were trying to watch President Ronald Reagan nominate their daughter, Sandra Day O’Connor, as the 102nd Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Day, a retired 83-year-old rancher and Greenlee County native, beamed while watching Reagan call his daughter “a person for all seasons.”
“SHE SURE LOOKS LIKE HER father doesn’t she,” Day laughed proudly while watching television pictures of his daughter. “That’d be a shame if the Senate didn’t confirm her, wouldn’t it?” he joked with his wife, who dabbed tears from her eyes.
Day and his wife became slightly irritable as White House reporters badgered Attorney General William French Smith about Judge O’Connor’s position on abortion. “I basically know what it is,” he said, and then refused to explain his daughter’s abortion philosophy. “She’s so conscientious, though, she won’t even give me a legal opinion any more. As a judge, she can’t. So she refers me to her husband.”
“SHE’S A VERY THOUGHTFUL person. I’ve never known anyone who didn’t like her. She is a dear person, and she isn’t the type who would try to high-hat anybody,” said her mother. “She’s excelled in everything she’s done.”
“I don’t suppose it would be any use to try to call her now,” said Day, who added Judge O’Connor
… secretary, who was with the judge in Phoenix today. Saying she was “extremely happy and honored,” the judge promised in a statement from Phoenix this afternoon that, if confirmed, she would do her “best to serve the court and this nation in a manner that will bring credit to the president, to my family and to all people of this great nation.”
Attorney General William French Smith told reporters at the White House that the final decision was made yesterday. Reagan, who interviewed O’Connor personally July 1, said he would send a formal nomination to the Senate as soon as the FBI checks are completed. O’Connor would take the place of Justice Potter Stewart, who retired last Friday. She would make $88,700 a year and would take her seat for the first time publicly when the court starts a new term Oct. S. On the bench, she will sit next to a fellow Arizonan and a former law school classmate, Justice William H. Rehnquist.
Today, the judge was in her chambers in Phoenix, taking telephone calls and visiting with court aides according to White House aide Roussel. He said she was in her car going to the courthouse when Reagan appeared on TV this morning to announce his choice. Earlier in the day, O’Connor “hardly got to eat her breakfast” – scrambled eggs and orange juice – because the telephone rang so often at her borne in Phoenix’s Paradise Valley section, Roussel reported. He said she did not know when she would come to Washington. The judge would not comment on any controversy
President Reagan ended two centuries of male exclusivity in the Supreme Court today by nominating Mrs Sandra O’Connor, a judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals, to succeed Justice Potter Stewart, who is retiring. If confirmed she will be the first appointment to the Supreme Court for six years. President Reagan announced her nomination in the White House press office, describing her as ” truly a person for all seasons, possessing those unique qualities of temperament: fairness, intellectual capacity and devotion to public good “. During last year’s election campaign, President Reagan said he would name a woman to the Supreme Court, but yesterday he emphasized he had chosen Mrs O’Connor mainly because she agreed with his judicial philosophy that it is the court’s duty to interpret the law and not to make it. Mrs O’Connor, who is 51, has enjoyed a meteoric rise through Arizona’s political and judicial circles . She served two full terms in the Arizona State Sen ate, where she became majority leader, the first woman in the United States to be elected to such a post. In 1975, she was elected a superior court judge in Phoenix, and was promoted to the Arizona Court of Appeals 18 months ago. Despite her conservative inclinations, she has supported feminists on abortion legislation and the equal rights amendment. The National Right to Life Committee has already announced that anti-abortionists will oppose her confirmation. Just ice Stewart, whom she will be replacing, often swung between
U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater found out Arizona Appeals Court Judge Sandra O’Connor had been chosen for the U.S. Supreme Court when President Reagan called the senator’s airborne plane this morning. “I think the president has taken a great step,” Goldwater later told his Washington staff which also contacted the senator during his Washington to El Paso flight. “The president could find literally hundreds of qualified women attorneys and jurists in this country, but I douf>t that he could ever find one more qualified to occupy a seat on the United States Supreme Court than Sandra O’Connor, whom I have known for years and greatly respect and admire,” the senator said. Goldwater, R-Ariz., met Monday night with Reagan to again urge the appointment and had been one of Judge O’Connor’s earliest endorsers for the appointment. Goldwater’s support today set the pace for other Arizonans when they heard the news. Gov. Bruce Babbitt, who appointed Judge O’Connor to the appeals court, said, “I am confident that Sandra O’Connor will distinguish herself as a member of the Supreme Court. President Reagan is to be congratulated for making an outstanding selection.” The governor noted, “After I became governor, I appointed Sandra to fill the first vacany that came open on the Court of Appeals. Her abiliities were so obvious that I actively sought her out to serve on the court. That was the only time I have done that.” “Her judicial temperment, knowledge of the law and her willingness to work long
WASHINGTON – The Moral Majority and the nation’s largest anti-abortion organization said today they would seek to block Senate confirmation of Arizona Court Of Appeals Judge Sandra D. O’Connor as a Supreme Court justice because of her views on abortion. “Sandra O’Connor had a consistent and strong pro-abortion voting record while a senator in Arizona,” said Dr. J.C. Wilkie, president of the National Right -to-Life Committee. President Reagan, in announcing Mrs. O’Connor’s nomination, said he was completely satisfied with her record on right-to-life issues. He did not elaborate. WILKIE AND Richard Viguerie, publisher of the Conservative Digest, spoke bitterly of Reagan’s choice, charging that the president had ignored the pledge of the Republican 1980 platform to name judges “who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent human life.” Douglas Badger, a lobbyist for the Christian Action Council, a Protestant group that opposes abortion, explained the opposition to Mrs. O’Connor by citing three votes which he said she cast in the Arizona Senate. Badger said that in 1970 – before the Supreme Court ‘s 1973 abortion decision – she voted for a bill that would have legalized abortions in Arizona under certain circumstances. He was unable to detail those circumstances. THEN IN 197 4, he said, she voted in the Senate Judiciary Committee and in the Republican caucus against a resolution calling on Congress to amend the Constitution to outlaw abortions. Also in 1974,
“Very flattering, but I’m not packing my bags,” said Judge Sandra Day O’Connor, Arizona Court of Appeals, about being considered for the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy. ” I don’t have the appointment and I still have a long way to go.” SHE TALKED TO the Herald-Post about her El Paso background today by phone from Phoenix, just before she and her husband left for the northern Arizona mountains on a vacation. “My parents are Harry and Ada Mae Day,” she said. “They live on the Lazy B Ranch in the New Mexico and Arizona area , where they’ve always lived. My folks have lived on the Lazy B since 1880. “When I went to El Paso to school, I lived with my grandmother, Mrs. W. W. Wilkey. I went to Radford School for Girls for many, many years and then to Austin High School for the last two years .” SHE WAS GRADUATED from Austin in 1946 and recalls her school days as very happy. She remembers some old schoolmates : “Cita Fletcher was one of my close friends,” she said. “I remember Sam Young Jr .. .. Rondy Hill … Paquita Schwartz.” My aunt Evelyn Wooten lived in El Paso, but she’s now in Houston. My uncle Scott Wilkey still lives in El Paso.
“My cousin, Flornoy Davis, married Sal Manzo, and they lived in El Paso after his retirement from the military. They now live in Houston. Another El Paso cousin is Mrs. John (Amanda) Kipp.” She visits El Paso on occasion, she said. MEANWHILE HER former classmates and friends were excited over the prospect of her appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The
WASHINGTON, July 1 – Sandra D. O’Connor, a 51-year-old judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals, is a top contender to fill the Supreme Court vacancy, Reagan Administration sources said last night.
They confirmed that Judge O’Connor was on the so-calk!d “short list” of possible nominees by President Reagan to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement of Justice Potter Stewart and said that she was one of a very few persons who were interviewed by Administration officials in the past few days.
An administration official said today that the “short list” contained fewer than five names, winnowed by the Attorney General from an original “long list” of about 25 names. The official declined to say how many names on the “short list were women.
Judge O’Connor has been an active member of the Republican Party, and is described by party members as politically conservative. She was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals, the state’s second highest court, 18 months ago by Gov. Bruce Babbitt, a Democrat.
She earlier served two full terms in the Arizona State Senate and was elected majority leader before being elected a Superior Court Judge in Phoenix in 1975. In 1972 she was co-chairman of the Arizona state committee in behalf of President Nixon’s re-election.
A well-placed Administration source indicated last night that Judge O’Connor had emerged as one of the top candidates for the post.
There was no indication how many more potential nominees would be interviewed nor when the President
Arizona Judge Has Strong Credentials, Conservative Views
Arizona Woman Heading List For Supreme Court Vacancy
Sandra D. O’Connor, a prominent Arizona jurist with Republican political credentials, has emerged as a leading candidate for the Supreme Court vacancy that will be created Friday when Justice Potter Stewart retires. Well-placed administration officials confirmed that O’Connor, who received a high ranking from the Arizona Bar Association and was third in the Stanford law school class in which Justice William H Rehnquist finished first, had been interviewed for the job. She is believed to be the only potential nominee interviewed so far, and hers is one of a few names, most of them of women, on a “short list” reposing now with a handful of top White House aides and Attorney General William French Smith. “She hasn’t been chosen yet, but she’s close,” said one source. O’Connor, a 51-year-old judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals, has enjoyed a meteoric rise through the state’s political and professional circles, impressing colleagues with her intellect, demeanor, organizational abilities and conservative views. She received one of the highest ratings of any judge evaluated in a 1980 state bar poll – 90 percent favorable. In addition to her legal credentials, O’Connor has strong backing from Arizona’s senators, Barry Goldwater (R) and Dennis DeConcind (D), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and from former House Republican leader John J. Rhodes.
“She’s what
Sandra D. O’Connor, a 51-year-old judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals, has moved into position as a top contender to fill the Supreme court vacancy, administration sources said last night. They confirmed that Judge O’Connor was on the so-called “short list” of possible nominees by President Reagan to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement of Justice Potter Stewart and said that she was one of •a very few that had already been interviewed by the administration in the past few days. These sources declined to disclose how many names were on the “short list” and how many of those were women, but an original “long list” had about 25 possible candidates for the vacancy. Judge O’Connor wife of a Phoenix attorney, has been an active member ,of the Republican Party, and is described by party members as politi- ‘cally conservative. She served two ‘full terms in the Arizona state senate and was elected majority leader before being elected a county judge in that state in 1975I.n 1972s he was cochairman of the Arizona state committee in behalf of President Nixon’s re-election. While acknowledging that various prominent women have been mentioned for the vacancy in keeping with a campaign promise by Reagan that he would name a woman to the high court, a well-placed administration source indicated last night that Judge O’Connor was more than just one of those many names. She has emerged as one of the very leading candidates for the post, he said. There was no indication how many more potential
El Pasoan is court frontrunner
WASHINGTON (UPI) – Judge Sandra D. O’Connor of the Arizona Court of Appeals , a native El Pasoan, is on the short list of Potential nominees to fill the upcoming Supreme Court vacancy, it was learned today.
Administration sources said the choice would be made “very soon,” possibly next week, of a new Supreme Court justice for the opening that will occur Friday with the resignation of Justice Potter Stewart.
MRS. O’CONNOR WAS born in El Paso. Her parents had a ranch that crossed the New Mexico Arizona line in the area of Duncan, Ariz., and Lordsburg, N.M.
When it came time, Mrs. O’Connor’s mother traveled to El Paso to have the baby and stayed with Mrs. O’Connor’s grandmother, who lived in El Paso at the time.
David Gergen, White House director of communications, today ruled out any announcement of a new Supreme ‘ Court justice this weekend. He would not confirm that Judge O’Connor had been interviewed at the White House for the vacancy.
“I DON’T WANT TO speculate on names or the process” of selection, be said. “It’s not a fruitful exercise .”
The Washington Post, quoting well-placed administration officials, reported Ms. O’Connor has been interviewed for the high court opening and is being eyed as the frontrunner to fill the vacancy,
Aides to Sen. Barry Goldwater , R-Ariz., said today the senator immediately notified the White House about Judge O’Connor when Stewart announced his resignation.
“THE SENATOR HAS really pushed for her and
WASHINGTON( AP) – Judge Sandra D. O’Connor of the Arizona Court of Appeals is on a narrow list of candidates to succeed Justice Potter Stewart on the U.S. Supreme Court. It could not be learned how many other names were on the narrow list. But one administration official who declined to be named said that a decision by President Reagan on his choice was expected soon. This source said that Attorney General William French Smith had developed an initial list of 20 to 25 names from many more who had been suggested. One Justice Department source said the administration had been given the names of about 50 different people by various congressmen, lawyers, interest groups and others. The administration source said that the attorney general culled the names to 20 to 25 by reviewing the background of the individuals suggested, reading their opinions and writings and discussing them with acquaintances and colleagues. Smith and Reagan then narrowed the list and are well along in the selection process, this source said. Those who are under serious consideration have been interviewed or are about to be interviewed by the attorney general or other top Justice Department officials. In today’s editions, the Washington Post said Mrs. O’Connor has emerged as a leading candidate. “She hasn’t been chosen yet, but she’s close,” the newspaper quoted one unnamed Reagan administration source as saying. The Post said Mrs. O’Connor, 51, was interviewed for the vacancy by an administration official and
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Reagan is expected soon to announce his nominee to fill the first vacancy on the nine-member Supreme Court since 1975. The retirement of Associate Justice Potter Stewart was effective at the end of today and there are hints his successor could be named within a few days. Among those on a narrow list of candidates is Sandra D. O’Connor, an Arizona appeals court judge. She would be the first woman to serve on the court. Bill Jacquin, president of the Arizon Chamber of Commerce, said she was interviewed at the White House on Wednesday. The New York Times reported Saturday that Mrs. O’Connor is among “fewer than five” people in contention for the job. The Washington Star said others on the so-called short list include former Solicitor General Robert H. Bork, Judge J . Clifford Wallace of the 9th U.S. Circuit Cort of Appeals and Utah Supreme Court Justice Dallin Oaks. Here, at a glance, is the lineup of Supreme Court justices, listed according to the president who nominated them; giving dates of their birth, of Senate action on their nomination, and when they took office. Retiring Judge Potter Stewart: Born Jan . 23, 1915,i n Jackson, Mich., he was appointed during a Senate recess Oct. 14, 1958, taking office that day. He was then nominated by Presi• dent Eisenhower Jan. 17, 1959; confirmed by the Senate May 5, 1959; and again took the oath of office May 15, 1959. Stewart retired effective Friday in letter to Reagan dated May 18. Reagan accepted Stewart’s
Sandra D. O’Connor, a prominent Arizona jurist with Republican political ties, has emerged as a leading candidate for the Supreme Court vacancy that will be created tomorrow when Justice Potter Stewart retires. Administration officials confirmed that O’Connor had been interviewed for the job.
She is believed to be the only potential nominee interviewed so far, and she is one of a few candidates, most of them of women, whose name appears on a “short list” kept by top White House aides and Attorney General William French Smith. “She hasn’t been chosen yet, but she’s close,” said one source.
O’Connor, a judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals, has risen quickly through the state’s political and professional circles, impressing colleagues with her intellect, demeanor, organizational ability and conservative views.
The 51-year-old jurist was third in the Stanford law school class in which Justice William Rehnquist finished first. She received one of the highest ratings of any judge evaluated in a 1980 state bar poll — 90 percent favorable. In addition to her legal credentials, O’Connor has strong backing from Arizona’s senators — Barry Goldwater (R) and Dennis DeConcind (D), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee — and from former House Republican leader John Rhodes.
“She’s what the president’s looking for,” DeConcini said. “She believes in the court, interpreting the law, not making it.”
This was the criterion President Reagan laid down when he announced Stewart’s
WASHINGTON (AP) – Judge Sandra D. O’Connor of the Arizona Court of Appeals has emerged as a leading candidate to succeed Justice Potter Stewart on the U.S. Supreme Court, the Washington Post reported today. “She hasn’t been chosen yet. but she’s close,” the newspaper quoted one unnamed Reagan administration source as saying. The Post said Mrs. O’Connor, 51, was interviewed for the vacancy by an administration official and was believed to be the only potential nominee to be interviewed. In another development, the New York Daily News quoted Reagan administration sources in today’s editions as saying that U.S. District Judge Lawrence W. Pierce, a 56-year-old black. is also being considered for the high-court seat. Administration officials said Mrs. O’Connor is on a “short list” of leading candidates – most of them women – for Stewart’s seat, which becomes vacant when he retires Friday, according to The Post. During his campaign last year. President Reagan said he wanted to name a woman to one of the first vacancies on the nine-member court. The White House, however, has kept open the possibility that a man could be named to succeed Stewart. Until now, one of the women mentioned most often as Stewart’s likely successor has been Cornelia Kennedy of Detroit, a member of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Post said Mrs. O’Connor has support from both of Arizona’s senators, Republican Barry Goldwater and Democrat Dennis DeConcini, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
No sooner had U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart announced that he will retire next month than Sen. Dennis DeConcini was campaigning for Sandra O’Connor of the Arizona Court of Appeals as a worthy replacement.
DeConcini’s quick move made sense. For President Reagan has said he will move quickly to fill the vacancy, hoping the Senate can confirm his appointment before the high court reconvenes in October. The promotion of a qualified woman jurist also made sense, because Reagan has indicated the Supreme Court will seat its first female member during his administration. Actually, Democrat DeConcini, who seldom misses a political trick, stole the march on Sen. Barry Goldwater. It would seem that Republican Goldwater should have seized the opportunity to drop the name of Mrs. O’Connor, a conservative Republican and a near-neighbor from Paradise Valley. In any event, Tucsonian DeConcini, facing a statewide re-election race in 1982, no doubt endeared himself to many people in Maricopa County through his alertness. Mrs. O’Connor, 51, an appellate court judge since 1979, is highly regarded. We trust Reagan will give Mrs. O’Connor careful consideration. We were impressed by her five-year performance as a state senator (1969- 74), especially her final two years as a bright and effective Senate pres ident, and we have heard good reports of her even-handedness as a judge, beginning with her Maricopa County Superior Court stint (1974-79). As a clear sign of her popularity, Mrs. O’Connor
President Reagan broke the all-male tradition of the Supreme Court on Tuesday, July 7, by nominating Arizona Court of Appeals Judge Sandra Day O’Connor to succeed retiring Justice Potter Stewart. Judge O’Connor, 51, becomes the first woman to be nominated to sit on the high court. President Reagan said of Judge O’Connor, “She is truly a person for all seasons, possessing those unique qualities of temperament, fairness, intellectual capacity and devotion to the public good which have characterized the 101 brethren who have preceded her. Judge O’Connor, in my view, will bring new luster and new strength to the Supreme Court. I feel certain that her term upon the bench will be one of the proudest legacies of my presidency.”
Judge O’Connor was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals eighteen months ago by Governor Bruce Babbitt. She was elected as a county judge in 1975 and has served as President of the Arizona State Senate. Commenting on the nomination, officials of the bar issued a statement that read, “The State Bar of Arizona is honored and extremely proud of the nomination by President Reagan of Judge Sandra O’Connor to be an associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Judge O’Connor is an outstanding member of the Arizona legal community, and we know that she will be an outstanding Supreme Court Justice as well.”
She was an accomplished trial court judge and has proven herself to be one of Arizona’s most able appellate court judges as evidenced by the high ratings
THERE have been 101 justices on the United States Supreme Court since it was formed nearly 200 years ago.
All men.
Now a woman may make it.
It’s high time.
During his campaign for the presidency, Ronald Reagan promised one of his first appointments to the highest court in the land would be a woman.
He will make his first appointment, to fill the forthcoming resignation of Justice Potter Stewart, before Oct. 1.
While Justice Stewart said that appointing a judge on the basis of sex “was antithetical to the very idea of what a judge is supposed to be,” being a female won’t hurt any candidate for the Supreme Court now.
Here are some who undoubtedly will be considered:
Anne Armstrong, of Texas, a Republican dynamo who has served as ambassador to Great Britain.
Carla Hills, a Republican lawyer from California who has served in the Cabinet. At one time President Reagan was considering her for solicitor general.
Cornelia Kennedy and Amalya Kerase, appellate federal judges in Michigan and New York. While available reference books do not give the political party affiliations of either, both are black.
The opportunity of breaking the female barrier with a black woman must have great attraction to any politically inclined president, which Reagan certainly is. But Justice Thurgood Marshall is black, and there might be political problems with having two black justices on a nine-member court. We suspect Kennedy and Kerase will have to wait until Justice Marshall leaves the court.
Arizona Appellate Court Judge Sandra O’Connor has been suggested as a possible candidate.
One of her main problems, of course, is that Arizona already has one Supreme Court Justice, William Rehnquist, and it would be unusual indeed for a small state to have two members of the court.
