The Brethren and She: Sandra O’Connor takes step in history

WASHINGTON – In a six-minute ceremony, Sandra Day O’Connor broke through two centuries of male exclusivity and donned her robe Friday as an associate justice of the Supreme Court. With President Reagan, her family and 500 others watching, O’Connor stood beside Chief Justice Warren E. Burger and promised to “support and defend the Constitution” and faithfully carry out her duties. “Justice O’Connor, welcome to the court,” Burger said at the conclusion of the oath. “I wish you a long life and a long and happy career in our common calling.” 9’Connor, who will be addressed by her brethren as “Justice _O’Connor” – no courtesy title – was preceded by 101 men, dating to the court’s founding in 1790. The court’s members were previously known as “Mr. Justice,” as in “Mr. Justice Stewart.” However, last November they dropped that title in favor of simply “Justice.” It was assumed that the change anticipated the naming of the first woman to the high court. . EARLIER, O’CONNOR and her husband, Pheonix attorney John J. O’Connor III, rode with the president and first lady Nancy Reagan up Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House to the Supreme Court, just east of the Capitol. The short ceremony started late, at 2:12 p.m. Sitting across from Justice O’Connor in the front of the courtroom were the Reagans, O’Connor’s husband and O’Connor sons Scott, 23, Brian, 21, and Jay, 20. Nearby were her parents, Harry and Ada Mae Day. Next to the president was Potter Stewart, whose retirement last July