El Paso Herald-Post, Op ed, The Kauffman-Henry Collection
Sandra O’Connor was warm, gracious and unassuming
Sandra Day O’Connor, trim and festively clad in cowboy denim and boots, walked quietly away from the dust-stirring clamor of about 700 guests and seated herself on a low, shaded wall while a Western band warmed up.
Last Sept. 20 marked the 100th anniversary of the Lazy B ranch where four generations of the Day family have grown up, never straying too far.
SANDRA, THE OLDEST of Harry Day’s children, earlier took her place beside her mother Ada Mae, brother Alan and sister Ann (Mrs. Scott Alexander) and long-time foreman Webb Cole atop a wagon that was circled by friends, relatives and guests.
Each got up from their folding chair and spoke briefly into a microphone, sharing greetings, a special anecdote or two and some slightly choking sentiments about the landmark gathering.
Sandra, with a permanent and warm smile fixed on her face, had watched her father with clear-eyed adoration as the 83-year-old patriarch stiffly fidgeted with the microphone and then launched past some brief public shyness into a reel of momentum-gathering recollections of ranch life that were lost among the mostly younger crowd, who applauded and laughed eagerly.
SANDRA’S SHORT, WELCOMING remarks were polished, gracious and almost unnoticeably forgotten – the way it was supposed to be. After all, the day was designed for nostalgia and Harry Day.
She sat quietly on the wall in front of her girlhood home and patiently studied the throng in front of her while dust sifted upward in the heat of the breezeless
Newspaper article, San Francisco Chronicle, The Kauffman-Henry Collection
What Rulings Tell of O’Connor
Washington
Sandra D. O’Connor’s opinions during her 18 months as an Arizona Court of Appeals judge display careful reasoning and use of precedent.
They do not shed much light on her attitude toward most of the controversial constitutional issues she will face if she is confirmed as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
A former Republican majority leader of the Arizona Senate, O’Connor is widely regarded as
conservative in her political outlook. Her legislative record, however.,has been attacked by anti-abortion groups that say she cast pro-abortion votes before she became a judge.
A review of O’Connor’s 30 published opinions for the Arizona Court of Appeals disclosed
none dealing with abortion. Nor did any of the opinions disclose her views on most of the other controversial constitutional issues the Supreme Court has ruled on, such as busing as a means of desegregating schools, prayer in schools, the death penalty, affirmative action and
the constitutional rights of criminal defendants.
Thus it appears to be far too early to determine whether the ideologically divided court will become more conservative or…
Uncategorized
J.C. Penney Co., Inc. v. Arizona Dept. of Revenue
O’CONNOR, Judge. Appellant, J. C. Penney Company, has appealed from the summary judgment granted to appellees by the trial court
Address to the National Judicial College
Unknown Speaker We have all seen the symbol of justice. A lady a woman gives me a woman blindfolded with the pans of justice being impartially balanced, how long it took us to realize that real justice needed a real woman. But thank God for Sandra Day O’Connor. Unknown Speaker I need labor her distinguished career as an honors of marketing colada graduate of Stanford University, a law review person at Stanford Law School, where another young man who was cutting his way young man named Bill Rehnquist. I haven’t heard of him lately. And he sent his apologies for not being here this evening. But they were as I understand it, both on the Stanford Law Review at the same time, and I think the nation is lucky to have such two great people in our court of last resort. Sandra Day O’Connor, of course, hails from the wonderful state of, of Arizona. Her career is just a list of government service, pro bono activities, community service, and an absolute commitment to law and community. She is surely the ideal of any lawyer and any judge. I am told that when she was first appointed to the Arizona court, she asked then Dean watts if she could come to our college, technically before she ascended her new post, and Dean watts properly had her come. So I am particularly proud tonight to introduce to you for remarks, a graduate of the national judicial college, and we of course, claim credit for her present position. Sandra Day O’Connor Thank you to my colleague and friend, justice, Brandon
Chandler Arizonan, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection
Arizona Judge Named to Supreme Court
WASHINGTON (AP) President Reagan today chose Arizona Judge Sandra D. O’Connor to become the first woman justice in the history of the Supreme Court, calling her “truly a person for all seasons,” and fulfilling a promise he made on the way to the White House. Reagan said he did not name a woman to succeed retiring Justice Potter Stewart “merely to do so,” but because Mrs. O’Connor has the qualities needed on the high court. “She is truly a person for all seasons, possessing tpose unique qualities of temperament, fairness, intellectual capacity and devotion to the public good which had characterized the 101 bretheren who have preceded her,” the president said in his nationally broadcast and televised announcement. “I commend you to her, and I urge the Senate’s swift bipartisan confirmation, so that as soon as possible she may take her seat on the court and her place in history,” Reagan said. Then, at her own news conference in Phoenix, the 51- year-old Mrs. O’Connor pledged to “simply try to do as good a job as I think I can .” She said Reagan had interviewed her last week for 15 minutes and called her at 4 p.m. Monday to tell her of her selection. “This is a momentous day in my life, in the life of my family,” the beaming nominee declared. “I can’t believe it, I still can’t believe it,” Mrs. O’Connor said as she slipped out of the jammed appeals court room in which her news conference was held. Poised but looking a bit weary, Mrs. O’Connor answered only routine questions during
Editorial, Houston Post, The Kauffman-Henry Collection
The O’Connor Choice
President Reagan made it plain that he would seek a conservative jurist to fill any vacan cy on the Supreme Court. He has now selected a respected judge; the fact that she is a woman is secondary . In Judge Sandra O’Connor he seems to have found a candidate who reflects his philosoph y that the cour t should interpret law rather than sh a pe it. Academically, Judge O’Connor is superbly quali- .fied. After earning a degree in economics, sh e was graduated from Sta nford University law school with highest honors and was a n edito r of the Stanford Law Review . She stood thi r d in a class that held Justice William Rehnquist and her husband, John Jay O’Con – nor III. She fulfilled he r early pr omise in a rapidly rising career by becoming depu ty coun ty a tto rney for San Mateo Count y, Ca lif ., as sistant attorney general of Arizona, an Arizona state senator , senate majority leader and superior court judge. E ighteen months ago she was appointed to t he Ari zona Court of Appeals by a Democratic governor . Arizona justices pronounce her leg a lly sound . Sen . Barr y Goldwater is one of her steadfast supporters . O’Connor’s written decisions suggest th a t she is no ideologue, but rather judges ea ch cas e on its mer its , Her childhood on a cattl e ranch northw est of El Paso , a cousi n a nd fr iend in Houst on says , m a de her self -sufficie nt , a voracio us r ea der, a nd “peopl e-orien ted rather than male- or fema le-or ien te d.” Judge O’Conno r would bring L1. remar
O’Connor’s record sheds little light on constitutional beliefs
Washington
Sandra D. O’Connor’s opinions during her 18 months as an Arizona Court of Appeals judge display careful reasoning and use of precedent.
They do not shed much light on her attitude toward most of the controversial constitutional issues she will face if she is confirmed as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
A former Republican majority leader of the Arizona Senate, O’Connor is widely regarded as
conservative in her political outlook. Her legislative record, however.,has been attacked by anti-abortion groups that say she cast pro-abortion votes before she became a judge.
A review of O’Connor’s 30 published opinions for the Arizona Court of Appeals disclosed
none dealing with abortion. Nor did any of the opinions disclose her views on most of the other controversial constitutional issues the Supreme Court has ruled on, such as busing as a means of desegregating schools, prayer in schools, the death penalty, affirmative action and
the constitutional rights of criminal defendants.
Thus it appears to be far too early to determine whether the ideologically divided court will become more conservative or more liberal if and when Judge ‘ O’Connor fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Potter Stewart, who has been viewed as a moderate leaning to the conservative side of the court’s philosophical balance.
Attorney General William French Smith said Tuesday after President Reagan had announced Judge O’Connor as his choice to be the first woman to sit on the