Speedy O’Connor approval needed

Most of the comedians and editorial cartoonists have had their day with the nomination of Arizona’s Sandra O’Connor to become the nation’s first female justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Now it’s time for the Senate Judiciary Committee to take over. Hearings are scheduled to begin Wednesday in Washington. We hope the committee comes to the conclusion that almost everyone else across the nation already reached: that President Reagan made one of the best choices possible when he selected O’Connor for the position. And after the committee has done its work, we hope speedy Senate confirmation will follow. There are still a few, of course, who have expressed concern about O’Connor’s supposed viewpoints in some areas, and we presume there are a few diehards who remain opposed to appointment to any woman as a ‘member of the nation’s highest court. But O’Connor’s viewpoints as a privat e citizen or as an Arizona state legislator 10 or 15 years ago, nor her sex, have little relationship to her actions as a judge. A judge must look at each case from a judicial viewpoint, and the record of her years at the superior court and appeals court levels shows clearly she understands and follows that dictum. She is knowledgeable in the law and has an abundance of judicial temperament . Too many judges in recent years have given the impress ion they are usurping the role of legislators, but O’Conn.or is not among those. In one of her statements to the committee which will consider her nomination,