Los Angeles Daily Journal, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

O’Connor Known for Common Sense

Los Angeles Daily Journal, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

In naming the first woman to be on the nation’s highest court, President Reagan has picked a well-regarded Arizona judge who is widely praised for her scholarship, common sense and reluctance to allow personal opin ions sway her interpretation of the law. Colleagues in the home state of Sandra Day O’Connor, 51, a judge on the state’s intermediate-level Court of Appeals, described her as a jurist who would not be an activist for social change, but nonetheless would make her presence known among the eight rnen on the Supreme Court. “She is obviously a conservative,” said one Phoenix attorney who asked not to be identified, “but she’s a thinking conservative who is compassionate and very concerned about people.” Among friends and foes alike, the consen sus appeared to be that O’Connor would be an “excellent” addition to the court who is well-qualified to replace retiring Justice Potter Stewart regardless of her sex. As to where she would fit on the nine-member court, most of her peers and colleagues declined to speculate, although her conservative background made it clear that she would not be joining the dwindling liberal bloc on the court. ‘One Can Never Tell’ One former Arizona law professor who has

Newspaper mention, San Jose Mercury, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

Change anticipated a woman

Newspaper mention, San Jose Mercury, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

Change anticipated •a woman WASHINGTON (AP) – What physical changes would the marble temple the Supreme Court calls home undergo if Sandra D. O’Connor becomes its first female justice? “Absolutely none,” court spokesman Barrett McGurn said Tuesday, minutes after President Reagan nominated Judge O’Connor of the Arizona Court of Appeals to the nation’s highest court. But a rumor persists among court employees that a bathroom fixture “inappropriate” for women will be removed from a small restroom just off the justices’ conference room. The court officially dropped the “Mr. Justice” designation from titles last November, choosing instead just plain “Justice” before the names of members. Speculation was that the change, made without explanation or fanfare, was aimed at making thing.s less complicated in the event of a woman joining the court. If confirmed by the Senate, O’Connor will become the first woman in the court’s 191-year history to serve as a justice.

Detroit Free Press, Newspaper mention, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

Arizona Judge Sanda O’Connor 1st Woman for Supreme Court: Many here wish it were Kennedy

Detroit Free Press, Newspaper mention, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

The nomination of Arizona Appeals Court Justice Sandra D. O’Connor for the vacant U.S. Supreme Court seat drew an almost universal reaction from Michigan jurists, feminists and lawyers Tuesday: applause for President Reagan’s selection of a woman candidate and bewilderment about the candidate herself. Even Cornella Kennedy, the U.S. Court of Appeals judge who was widely regarded as a leading choice for the nomination, said she knew only what she had read in press accounts about O’Connor. Kennedy said she was pleased a woman had been nominated. She added, “I would have been more pleased if it were I.” John Felkens, chief judge of the U.S. District Court iri Michigan’s eastern district, . said he was pleased Reagan Cornfha Kennedy had chosen a woman “but terribly disappointed that it is not my friend Cornella Kennedy.” And former Michigan Republican senator Robert Griffin, who said he had lobbied for Kennedy in Washington “to the extent I could,” praised Reagan for fulfilling his campaign promise by nominating a woman. “Of course,” he said from his Washington office, “I was hoping the choice would be Cornelia Kennedy or (Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice) Mary Coleman.” LOCAL WOMEN judges and lawyers praised Reagan’s choice of a woman. “I am very pleased to think I will look upon that

Arizona Republic, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

A friend recalls legislative past of woman judge

Arizona Republic, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

I always wanted her to run for governor,” Rep. Burton Barr was saying. “She could have done the job.” Barr, R-Phoenix, picked up a cowboy hat and placed it on his head. The hat sat there, straight on, with no tilt. Barr raised his head and stuck his chin out. He grinned.

“And Sandra O’Connor could have won, too,” he said. “She could have been governor. And when she got in office, she would have been tough. She can stand up. She’s got all the courage she needs.”

The Arizona House majority leader goes back a long way with state Appeals Court Judge Sandra O’Connor, who on Tuesday morning became the first woman ever nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“I remember when she was majority leader of the state Senate and we worked together to get bills passed,” Barr said. “What fights we had to get some of those bills through.

“I remember one time back in 1974. She had gotten her bill through the Senate. I was still working on getting mine through the House.

“It was like mass murder to get this particular bill through.

“‘Can you do it?’ she kept asking. ‘We can do it,’ I kept saying.

“Finally, she was waiting for me outside the caucus room after I got the agreement that the bill would go through.

“‘How’d we do?’ she asked.

“‘We got it,’ I said, ‘just like I said we would.'”

Barr smiled again.

“Well, there were tears coming down her cheeks she was so happy, and she gave me a big hug.

“‘Hey,’ I said to her, ‘we’re majority leaders. None of this emotion in public.”

Barr’s secretary

Op ed, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

This ‘frail wildcat’ is a solid choice

Op ed, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

WASHING TON-Aristophanes’ ashes must have erupted like Mt. St. Helens when President Reagan named a woman to the U.S. Supreme Court. Some 411 years before Christ, Aristophanes was writing In “Lysistrata” that, “There Is no animal more invincible than a woman, nor fire either, nor any wildcat so ruthless.” Images arise of Sandra Day O’Connor clawing at the eyes of Chief Justice Burger as he tries to Impose some argument upon the rest of the court. And Shakespeare’s bones must have beaten each other like castanets, muffling out even the strident protests of the Rev. Jerry Falwell. It was Shakespeare, after all, who wrote: “Frailty, thy name is woman!” Can’t you just see tears cascading down O’Connor’s robe as frailty prevents her from dealing with some absurd opinion by her old Stanford classmate, Justice William Rehnquist? Whether he chose O’Connor to keep a campaign promise, or because he has been catching unmitigated hell from Republican women who say he hasn’t given enough decent jobs to females, President Reagan deserves high praise for . naming O’Connor to the nation’s highest tribunal. After 191 years of wallowing In the lnanities of Aristophanes and Shakespeare, and assorted chauvinisms In between, it is gOOd to see Reagan respond to the principle that America’s commitment to justice is deepened when women sit on the court. We go back and forth from the trifling to the vulgar in our assertions that women are “different” from men. It Is time that we faced the reality that

Arizona Republic, Newspaper mention, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

Reagan failed to consult bar on high-court pick

Arizona Republic, Newspaper mention, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

WASHINGTON – President ReagBD kept one campaign promise this week by nominating a woman for the Supreme Court, but he might have broken another pledge when he failed to seek the advice of the American Bar Association in making his decision. The president’s selection of Judge Sandra O’Connor, 51, of the Arizona Court of Appeals to succeed Justice Potter Stewart fulfills Reagan’s campaign vow last year to nominate a woman to fill one of the ftrst vacancies occurring on the high court. Richard Collins, a spokesman for the American Bar .Association, said the association was not consult.ed before the president’s announcement of his choice Tuesday, although Reagan promised last fall to seek advice from the 280,000- …