Woman Named for High Court

… 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