A Shoo-In

THE only remaining question now seems to . be just how lopsided the Senate will vote -be in confirming Sandra O’Connor as the first ,. woman justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. She easily and obviously has won over the Senate Judiciary Committee, despite generally testy questions from three members, John East, R-N.C., Jeremiah Denton, R-Ala., and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. This is not to say that members of the committee, or others in the Senate who must act on her confirmation, were totally pleased with all her answers. She obviously did not please some of them when she refused to condemn abortion – outright. She did not please opponents of the Equal Rights Amendment when she refused to withdraw her support for it. “- Nor did she please senators when she ‘ .. -consistently declined to reveal how she would , … tule on specific issues that might reach the high court’s docket in future years, correctly contending that public opinions now might compromise her role as a justice later. ‘) ,j • But the senators saw in Sandra O’Connor, :~!18 others_ watching her two days of testimony -: m Washington saw, a person of exceptional ~, integrity, high judicial temperament and ..:.• .. impeccable personal character. Her unfaltering recall of complicated and obscure court cases also revealed a scholarly preparation for her.new adventure on the high court. By contrast, the handful of opponents who showed up to oppose her confirmation – mainly anti-abortionists – showed not only ineptness,