Editorial, The Kauffman-Henry Collection, The Washington Post

The Nomination of Mrs. O’Connor

Editorial, The Kauffman-Henry Collection, The Washington Post / By

THE DECISION of President Reagan to nominate Sandra Day O’Connor of Arizona for a seat on the Supreme Court is far more than the fulfillment of a campaign commitment. It marks the end of a long road for all those women who have ever practiced or aspired to practice law. Just 109 years ago, the court on which Judge O’Connor will sit if the Senate confirms this nomination upheld the power of the states to prevent women from becoming lawyers. The vestiges of the thinking that produced that now unthinkable discrimination linger on. But the ascension of Judge O’Connor to the nation’s highest court would help eliminate more of them, regardless of how she votes on constitutional questions. The fact that a woman has, at long last, been selected for one of these seats of great power will make the continuance of sexual barriers in lesser jobs more difficult to justify. In some ways, when you think of it, it is incredible .that this should have to come as such a momentous event in 1981, that it should have this aspect of novelty and “breakthrough” to it. And we hasten to suggest that it will merely compound the grotesque thinking that has created such a situation if the great ‘legal and political powers-that-be regard a seat on, the court for one female as some kind of equity. Female justices should not be considered as some oneof-a-kind token or representative or quota-filler. Mr. Reagan has helped redeem the shame of his predecessors who wouldn’t quite dare to do what he has done. He

Arizona Republic, Editorial, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

The New Justice

Arizona Republic, Editorial, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

A~LL t~t remains before Sandra Day •. O’Connor dons the robe of an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court is the formality cif a confirmation vote in the full US.Senate. ‘ The Senate Judiciary Committee’s 17-0 vo1f Tuesday recommending her confirmation indicates that the full Senate might even cast a UQIUlllDOUS vote. Not even the sternest critics of Judge O’Connor’s legislative record on the Senate committee oould bring themselves to cast a “nay 1 ‘ vote when they rec.>mmended her confirmation. Judge O’Connor underwent some of the most gruelling interrogation that Washington has seen in yiears. ‘ In the end, however, her performance at the confipnation hearings was virtuoso. Her poise under fire, her skillful grasp of law and her unyielding professional refusal to be baited into second~essing court rulings clearly established Judge O’Connor as a person with exceptional personal and legal credentials and character . This time a few months ago Sandra Day O’Connor was an obscure state appeals judge, known outside Arizona only by a few members of the legal community. Today, she is an historic personality, known throughout the land and in many countries abroad. Her nomination to the court was a stro1re of genius by President Reagan. Of all the judges he could have selected for the high court, the president could not have found one with such diversity of experience – as an honored law student, as an assistant state attorney general, as a state legislator, and as a judge in two

Newspaper mention, Op ed, Tempe Daily News, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

The Hot Spot

Newspaper mention, Op ed, Tempe Daily News, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

“‘ 1 first “di scovered ” snow four years ago wh en friends invi~_ed me to the Snowbowl. we had been gettin g the bus iness from our s~ung friends for two seasons about how great the sp ort was, bu t l~k~ most non -skiers , we were convinced these snow-chic snobs ?nly did 1t so th ey could wear their new $500 outfits around the campfire . Two tiring but constructive Mondays lat er , we wer e hooked , bless ed th short lift lines a ba se of 100 inches (with fresh, packed powder, of :~urse) and crystal 1 ctear skies. Growin g up in Illinois , snow was something to sh ovel : in Arizona. it was heaven. we began planning this week ‘s Ticket skiing issue about a month 0 when the weather was still very much in the summer mode. Then , ~f;as easy to handle . But now, as the snow and ski season is on the verg e of rea lity , the wait seems too much to bear. I can only run around the house with my Nordicas on for so long . . So, if the heavens ar e listenin g, let it snow, let it snow, let 1t snow. Who better to display their artwork at an event hono~ng our _ne’!I’ U.S. Sup reme court Justice than Arizona’s foremost pamter, Fntz Scholder? , th H d A recent black tie event honoring Sandra O Connor at e ea~ Museum was gr aced by four paintin gs from Scholder’s flower senes. complimented by a “garden room ” at the Heard . . The first time the series was seen here was last year a~ ~anly~. Butler Fine Art in Scottsdale . The centerpiece for the exh1b1t was Pur – ple Rose No. l.” th The series

Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection, The Washington Post

The High Court’s New Justice is Actually One Tough Cookie

Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection, The Washington Post / By

FORMER ARIZONA Supreme Court Justice Renz Jennings is one Phoenix lawyer who isn’t thrilled that Sandra O’Connor has been elevated to the U.S. Supreme Court. He doesn’t like her. In 1978, Jennings, by then having returned to private Is Actually One Tough Cookie practice, stood in open court as O’Connor, the trial judge, told Jennings’ client that Jennings was representing him so poorly that he should get a new lawyer. Not content to stop there, O’Connor reportedly complained to the state bar disciplinary hoard that Jennings, then 79 years old, was senile and should be removed from practice.

“For Sandra lo do that took a lot of gumption,” says Barry Silverman, a Maricopa County commissioner who was then a prosecutor assigned to O’Connor’s court. “Jennings’ problem – missing deadlines, mishandling cases – was something all of us had winked at. But here was a trial court judge publicly declaring that a former supreme court judge was incompetent.”

Sandra O’Connor’s record is that of a woman who winks at nothing. Often that has made her formal, even rigid, in demeanor. But more often, and more important, it has made her a strong, sometimes gutsy judge who rii;- idly respects the legal process and is intolerant of those who take it less seriously.

Spurred by references in the national media to her supposedly limited credentials and to the middling ratings she had been given in local bar association surveys, I went to Phoenix the month before O’Connor’s confirmation expecting to

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

Tempeans praise High Court nominee

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

Sandra O’Connor may have just won national acclaim, but she’s had the admiration of various Arizona State University professors for a long time. She’s been making friends in Tempe over the years as an active supporter of the College of Law. Besides being on the college’s board of visitors for a year, O’Connor has served on panels critiquing law students’ performances during staged classroom trials. Dean Alan Matheson said O’Connor’s heavy involvement began in the 1970s, when she pushed for a law internship program at the Legislature. Burdened with heavy court dockets, she helped law professor Robert Misner produce a videotape of a mock murder trial he still uses in criminal law classes. “She is very concerned about maintaining the quality of law education in Arizona,” Misner said. “Her time was very valuable as a judge, yet she thought enough about the future of the legal profession to dedicate her time to the law school. “She has been an active supporter in helping to assure that Arizona has a bright, young crop of attorneys.” Misner called O’Connor “extremely bright, forthright and straightforward.” Criminal Justice Professor Peter Haynes said he knows O’Connor through her work in the Legislature for court administration reform. That background and her concern with equal rights will help her “fit in well” with Chief Justice Warren Burger, he said. Haynes remembers a college commencement address in which O’Connor recalled her graduation from law school in 1952. “She said she