TIME Cover Story

COVER STORY

The Brethren’s First Sister

A Supreme Court nominee-and a triumph for common sense Ronald Reagan lived up to a campaign pledge last week, and the nation cheered. At a hastily arranged television appearance in the White House press room, the President referred to his promise as a candidate that he would name a woman to the Supreme Court, explaining: “That is not to say I would appoint a woman merely to do so. That would not be fair to women, nor to future generations of all Americans whose lives are so deeply affected by decisions of the court. Rather, I pledged to appoint a woman who meets the very high standards I demand of all court appointees.”

So saying, he introduced his nominee to succeed retiring Associate Justice Potter Stewart as “a person for all seasons,” with “unique qualities of temperament, fairness, intellectual capacity.” She was Sandra Day O’Connor, 51, the first woman to serve as majority leader of a U.S. state legislature and, since 1979, a judge in the Arizona State Court of Appeals. O’Connor’s name had been floated about in rumors ever since Stewart, 66, announced his intention to retire last month, but her nomination, which must be approved by the Senate in September, was a stunning break with tradition.

In its 191- year history, 101 judges have served on the nation’s highest court, and all have been men. By giving the brethren their first sister, Reagan provided not only a breakthrough on the bench but a powerful push forward in the shamefully