Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

O’Connor quick to ask question on first day

Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

WASHINGTON (AP) – Sandra Day O’Connor , in her public debut as a working Supreme Court Justice, wasted little time Monday in asking her first question from the high court bench . “Mr. Silard, may I ask a question?” the court’s first woman member said at 10:46 a .m. , a little more than one-half hour into the first oral argument of the new term . John Silard, arguing a complex offshore oil and natural gas leasing case on behalf of the Energy Action Educational Foundation, shot back : “Just a minute, your honor .” Silard , who also had asked several other justices to hold up on their questions while he finished a point, went on to complete his answer to a previous question from the bench. Then he beckoned to Justice O’Connor . “It isn’t clear, is it, that even if California wins here, that the secretary (of the Interior) would use the bidding system California prefers?” she asked. “The secretary would still be free to use other experiments.” Her question referred to California’s bid in the case to obtain an offshore oil and natural gas leasing system that would yield greater revenue for the state . Silard, waving his finger in the air at Mrs. O’Connor to make his points, then elaborated at length on the various leasing systems available without ever specifically agreeing or disagreeing with Mrs. O’Connor’s line of reasoning . After several questions from other justices , Silard wound up his argument by looking directly a t Justice O’ Connor and saying he hoped the court’s decision

Newspaper article, Tempe Daily News, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

O’Connor humor is off the record

Newspaper article, Tempe Daily News, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

WASHINGTON – Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, newly sworn in as the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court, picked a gathering of reporters for her initial step into the Washington social scene, accepting an invitation to swear in Carol Richards of Gannett News Service as the new president of the Washington Press Club – a club, by the way, which didn’t allow any men as members until 10 years ago.

Everything was moving along smoothly until the afternoon of the event when a White House staffer called Richards to report that Justice O’Connor was “quite adamant” that her remarks at the gathering be off the record – despite the fact that she was invited as “guest speaker” for an audience of more than 300 working journalists. The White House aide said he would do his best to get her to change her mind but a short time later called back to say the judge “simply has to go off the record.”

Before the program got under way, Richards tried to strike a compromise, suggesting that Justice O’Connor put part of her remarks on the record “just to give these people something to report,” and then go off the record for the remainder of her comments. But the judge said absolutely not.

Interestingly, her speech was brief, light and humorous – hardly the substantive, candid stuff of most off-the-records.

Rep. Barber Conable, R-N.Y., the master of ceremonies, also tried – and failed – to change Justice O’Connor’s mind, but his conversation with her may explain her reasoning.

“This is not a smart

Newspaper article, Tempe Daily News, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

O’Connor expected to urge court reform

Newspaper article, Tempe Daily News, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is expected to urge state lawmakers to take action on lower court reform when she addresses an Arizona State University College of Law conference Nov. 27. O’Connor will the keynote speaker for the oneday session on “Arizona’s People’s Courts: Proposals for Improvement.’ ‘ Leaders from Arizona’s political and judicial arenas will attend the conference to hear findings of a six-month ASU study of the state’s municipal and justice court system . The $48,000 study was funded by the Arizona Legislative Council, a legislative committee, with the objective of providing politically workable suggestions for lower court reform, according to study director Dr. Jo Ann G. Pedrick. Justice O’Connor’s ties to the matter go back to 1974, when she was state senator and was appointed by the Arizona Supreme Court to chair an ad hoc committee on the topic. The ASU study is a cooperative effort between the College of Law and the Center of Criminal Justice in the College of Public Programs . Study co-directors are Willard Pedrick , ASU law professor and founding Law College dean, and Dr, Peter Haynes, ASU criminal justice professor. Pedrick chairs the Arizona State Bar : Committee on Lower Courts. For the research, 91 percent of the state’s lower court judges and 78 percent of selected attorneys practicing in the system completed questionnaires. More than 125 individuals who have had cases heard in justice or city courts were interviewed by telephone. The

Chandler Arizonan, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

O’Connor says Arizona brought honor to Supreme Court Justice

Chandler Arizonan, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

PHOENIX (AP) – The nation’s first woman U.S. Supreme Court justice told a crowd of admirers at the state Capitol today that it “was not Sandra Day O’Connor who brought honor to Arizona, but Arizona that brought honor to Sandra Day O’Connor.” Gov. Bruce Babbitt, Arizona Chief Justice Fred C. Struckmeyer Jr. and legislative leaders joined her on the podium under cloudy skies as about 200-300 persons gathered in the Capitol Mall to offer their tribute. Babbitt formally presented a proclamation declaring the occasion Sandra Day O’Connor Day. “Never in my wildest dreams did I ever dream that I’d be standing here in the Capitol Mall on a day proclaimed as Sandra Day O’Connor Day,” she said. Wearing a white coat against the morning chill, Mrs. O’Connor said she was proud to be allArizona, recalling her career as an assistant attorney general, a state senator and a judge before her nomination to the Supreme Court. “It was this state and this city that gave me a job when there weren’t too many jobs for women,” she said. “It was not just an opportunity to work but to lead.” She said she was hired by a male attorney general as-an assistant and her first assignment was as counsel to the cosmetology board. “I guess they thought I needed to improve my appearance,” she said. When a vacancy occurred in the Arizona Senate, Mrs. O’Connor said, “It was an all-male board of supervisors that appointed me.” “If you think you know your family well, you should try the Legislature when you’re working

Newspaper article, Scottsdale Daily Progress, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

Babbitt declares day for O’Connor

Newspaper article, Scottsdale Daily Progress, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

PHOENIX (AP) – The nation’s first woman U.S. Supreme Court justice told a crowd of admirers at the state Capitol today that it “was not Sandra Day O’Connor who .brought honor to Arizona, but Arizona that brought honor to Sandra Day O’Connor.” Gov. Bruce Babbitt, Arizona Chief Justice ired C. Struckmeyer Jr. and legislative leaders joined her on the podiwn wider cloudy skies as about 200-300 persons gathered in the Capitol Mall to offer their tribute. Babbitt fonnally presented a proclamation declaring the occasion Sandra Day O’Connor Day. “Never in my wildest dreams did I ever dream that I’d be standing here in the Capitol Mall on a day proclaimed as Sandra Day O’Connor Day,” she said. Wearing a white coat against the morning chill, Mrs. O’Connor said she was proud to be an Arizona, recalling her career as an assistant attorney general, a state senator and a judge before her nomination to the Supreme Court. “It was this state and this city that gave me a job when there weren’t too many jobs for women,” she said . “It was not just an opportunity to work but to lead.” She said she was hired by a male attorney general as an assistant and her first assignment was as counsel to the cosmetology board. “I guess they thought I needed to improve my appearance,” she said. When a vacancy occurred in the Arizona Senate, Mrs. O’Connor said, “It was an all-male board of supervisors that appointed me.”

Arizona Republic, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

Justice O’Connor delivers her first written opinion

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

WASHINGTON – Sandra O’Connor’s first opinion as a Supreme Court justice – delivered Tuesday in an oil- and gas-leasing dispute – came on a unanimous vote. But it was nonetheless a controversial ruling that says the Interior Department need not try out different offshore-leasing arrangements that might provide more revenue for the government and less for oil companies. With Justice O’Connor reading her first decision from the bench, the high court by a 9-0 vote struck down a ruling that had ordered the government to “experiment” in leasing deals with oil firms that want to drill on the Outer Continental Shelf. The alternative leasing plans are intended to give small firms a better chance when competing against the biggest oil companies in bidding for drilling rights. Justice O’Connor, who promised at her confirmation hearings that her opinions would be “terse,” fulfilled that vow with a 17-page ruling that avoided flowery language. _ , Shortly after Tuesday’s session opened, Justice O’Connor – the first woman ever to sit on the nation’s highest court – delivered her opinion in a steady voice. Seated at the far right of the long mahogany bench, the customary spot for the court’s junior justice, she took five minutes to read parts of it to the near-capacity crowd in the marble-columned courtroom. Her opinion managed to cover the history of the dispute in just over seven pages. In the remaining 10, she discussed the arguments on both sides, concluding with the court’s analysis and

Arizona Republic, Op ed, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

Supreme Court: The Justices Handle Heavy Caseload Without Succumbing to Activism

Arizona Republic, Op ed, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

Before it recessed for the Christmas holidays, the Supreme Court had handed down 11 full-blown opinions and disposed of hundreds of cases with summary orders. As an old trend-spotter, I venture this observation: There are no trends to spot. The high court rocks . along as smoothly as those famous crewmen of the children’s round, who rowed, rowed, rowed their boat gently down the stream. The 1980-81 term saw no great leaps in the law. Nothing thus far in the new term suggests a lust for judicial innovation. The only difference in the present term lies in the presence on the bench of Justice Sandra .Day O’Connor, whose destiny is to go through life forever . hearing herself introduced as the first woman ever to be appointed, etc., etc. She has slipped into the life of the court as easily as a fireman slips into his boots. She has not hesitated to ask questions from the bench. She speaks her mind at the court’s weekly conferences. By every account she is a charming woman, but she is also a justice. She expects, and she gets, the same respect the others get; As Ronald Reagan’s first nominee, it was generally expected – hoped, perhaps – that Justice O’Connor would join the court’s conservative bloc. It hasn’t worked out quite that way, though the evidence is inconclusive. Mrs. O’Connor has participated in nine of the 11 plenary cases; she dissented from the majority’s reasoning in four of them. As a dissenter, she has sided with the liberals three times, the conservatives only once.

Arizona Republic, Op ed, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

Sandra O’Connor: Pulling a Competent Oar in A Storm-Tossed Boat

Arizona Republic, Op ed, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

Nineteen opinions do not a full term make, but so far it looks as if Justice Sandra Day O’Connor will be joining the conservative bloc on the U.S. Supreme Court. The court’s first woman justice has sided with the liberals on only one of the 5-4 divisions to date. A paragraph probably should be inserted to acknowledge the irritation felt by the justices whenever they are thus labeled by the press. The high court is not a kind of judicial bench show, the collies here and the poodles there. Nevertheless, when the court divides narrowly, we generally find the “liberal” Justices Brennan and Marshall on one side and the “conservative” Chief Justice Burger and Justice Rehnquist on the other. Justice O’Connor seems to have suited up with the Burger-Rehnquist team. Through Jan. 21, the court had acted on 21 cases. Justice O’Connor had participated in 19 of these. Of the 19, only two were unanimous decisions, and in these two Justice O’Connor herself spoke for the court. In the other 17, the court fell apart like the one-hoss shay. I haven’t checked the statistics, but I suspect that some sort of record was set at this point in a term of court, when four of five decisions on Jan. 12 were reached by 5-4 divisions. This is not the most congenial court that ever came along. Justice Brennan has succeeded the late Justice Douglas as the most acerbic dissenter on the court. In one of the 5-4 decisions of Jan. 12, this one involving the gift of federal property to the Valley Forge Christian College