Newspaper article, San Diego Union, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

Reagan Court Choice: ‘Efficient, Conservative’

Newspaper article, San Diego Union, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

PHOENIX – Sandra O’Connor, selected by President Reagan to become the first woman justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, had a meteoric rise through the political and judicial ranks of Arizona, where she was raised on a cattle ranch. Colleagues of the 51-year-old Republican, who grew up in the small mining and ranching community of Duncan, say she has impressed them with a sharp mind, efficiency and conservative views. Her voting record in the state Legislature, her opinions from the bench, and comments from those who have worked with and against her, show her as a qualified magistrate who • has developed a conservative approach to most issues. But O’Connor – who graduated third in her 1952 class at Stanford University Law School – has maintained the respect of liberal adversaries. “I think she’s more of a strict constructionist. She believes the government ought to stay out of affairs.” said Frank Lewis, a Phoenix attorney specializing in minority affairs and who has worked with the Arizona Civil Liberties Union. “She’s got a fine legal mind, and she’s had a devoted life of public service in Arizona. As a judge she was not one to have your case before if you were trying to break new ground. But I do not believe she’s another Rehnquist. I don’t believe she’s that far right.” Justice William Rehenquist was in O’Connor’s law school class and ranked first. Alan Matheson, dean of the Arizona State University College of Law, said there “is a tendency to classify” O’Connor “as politically

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

Reagan choice wins approval from feminists

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

The first nomination of a women for the Supreme Court won applause from feminist groups in the Valley and around the nation. The nomination was saluted by Eleanor Smeal, president of the National Organization of Women, who said “we believe it’s a victory for the women’s movement.” “That she would be sympathetic to women’s rights would be very significant” because recent Supreme Court votes on issues in this area have been close, Smeal said. Iris Mitgang, head of the National Women’s Political caucus, declared “women are breaking the barrier of nearly 200 years of exclusion in decision-making in our nation. Justice O’Connor’s nomination will be a major step in moving toward equal justice … ” Cindy Maybeck, an NWPC spokeswoman, said the group was “satisfied” with O’Connor’s positions on “issues that are of concern to us” like “freedom of choice” on abortion and the ERA. Valley spokesmen for NOW praised the nomination as “a great victory.” “On the heels of 180 pro-ERA rallies around the nation this represents a significant step for women,” said the Arizona coordinator for NOW, whose only name is Baker. “We are very pleased to hear of this appointment.” Baker praised O’Connor as a “strong supporter of the ERA” who sponsored pro-ERA bills in 1972 and 1973 and who “spearheaded the effort to make Arizona laws uniform with regard to the sexes.”

Boston Globe, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

Reagan campaigns for O’Connor

Boston Globe, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

WASHINGTON- President Ronald Reagan. trying to calm the outcry on the right, has launched a personal campaign to win Senate approval of Sandra Day O’Connor as the first woman on the US Supreme Court. While Reagan wooed Rev. Jerry Falwell, leader of the Moral Majority, and conservative Sen . Jesse Helms (R-N .C.) even his critics were hailing his choice and its timing. Despite opposition from conservative groups that have questioned her views on abortions and the equal rights amendment , most analysts predicted O’Connor would be confirmed. Senate Judiciary Chairman Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) declared yesterday he expects O’Connor to be confirmed without difficulty. “I expect to support her,” said Thurmond. a key conservative leader. “I would say the Senate will confirm her unless something comes up that we don’t know about. ” Reagan met at the White House with Helms and telephoned Rev. Falwell, asking both to “keep an open mind” about his selection. As Helms left the White House, he said he and “at least five or six other” members of the Senate remained “skeptical.” spokesman for Falwell said he did not commit himself despite the President’s request that he “reconsider .” White House spokesman David R. Gergen said that the overall reaction to the nomination “has generally been very positive.” He said the President hopes that “those who have expressed concern about Judge O’Connor’s views will keep an open mind until they have a chance to hear her express her views and a chance

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

Reagan calls her ‘a person for all seasons’

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

WASHINGTON – President Reagan Tuesday nominated Sandra Day O’Connor, 51, an Arizona appeals court judge, to be the first woman to wear the robes of a U.S. Supreme Court justice. As the president put it in an announcement in the White House press room: “She is truly a ‘person for all seasons,’ possessing those unique qualities of temperament, fairness, intellectual capacity and devotion to the public good which have characterized the 101 ‘brethren’ who have preceded her.” O’CONNOR, WHO will succeed retiring Justice Potter Stewart if she is confirmed by the Senate, responded in Phoenix: “I will do my best to serve the court and this nation in a manner that will bring credit to the president, to my family and to all the people…”

Reagan said the appointment kept a campaign promise he made last Oct. 14. He had pledged then that “one of for the U.S. Supreme Court, Court vacancies in my administration will be filled by the most qualified woman I can find.” The president said Tuesday that he had not meant that “I would appoint a woman merely to do so. That would not be fair to women, nor to future, generations of all Americans whose lives are so deeply affected by the decisions of the court. “Rather, I pledged to appoint a woman who meets the very high standards demand of all court appointees.” SMILING HAPPILY at her Phoenix press conference, O’Connor avoided giving her views on current legal and political issues such as abortion and the Equal Rights Amendment. She explained that

Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection, Washington Star

Reagan Accused of Betraying Right

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

Coalition Blasts ‘Coverup’ Of Court Nominee’s Record

A coalition of conservative and anti-abortion groups, complaining that Ronald Reagan has ignored them in his administration, yesterday accused the president of political betrayal in his nomination of Sandra D. O’Connor to the U.S. Supreme Court. The coalition warned that the nomination will cost the p~esident c?nser vative grassroots support for his economic program and will create new political difficulties for Republican senators who vote to confirm O’Connor over the protest of pro-life activists. But Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker dismissed conservative criticism of O’Connor, saying it is not likely to be a serious obstacle to her confirmation .” He predicted that she “will be confirmed easily by the U.S. Senate.” Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., called the coalition’s warnings “a lot of foolish claptrap” and said conservative groups were risking their credibility by their attacks on O’Connor. The White House believes its effort to defuse right-wing opposition to the nomination is working, but opponents vowed not to give up the fight. Representatives of 21 “New Right” organizations held a news conference yesterday in a Senate conference room to launch a broadside attack against the O’Connor nomination, with the announced intention of making her the Ernest Lefever of the abortion issue. “Just as liberals were active against Ernest Lefever because of his symbolism, we believe there is important symbolism in this nomination,”

Newspaper article, Phoenix Gazette, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

Reaction here predictably split on rulings

Newspaper article, Phoenix Gazette, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

Reaction in Arizona to today’s U.S. Supreme Court rulings on abortion was predictable, with opponents comforted somewhat by Justice Sandra O’Connor’s votes. “No question it is a bad day for those who are opposed to abortion,” said a despondent Rep. Jim Skelly, R-Scottsdale, one o~ the Arizona Legislature’s most outspoken rightto-life advocates. “The court has made it more difficult to take even limited steps to protect the lives of the unborn,” he said. Skelly described as “disgraceful” the high court’s vote to strike down the so-called “informed consent” provision of a 1978 Akron, Ohio, ordinance requiring a physician to tell a woman seeking an abortion “the unborn child is a human life from the moment of conception” and give her an anatomical description of the fetus in her womb. Pro-choice supporters, who had not seen the texts of the decisions, were heartened by the rulings. “It sounds as if the Supreme Court is affirming its 1973 decision,” said Gloria Feldt, executive director of Central and Northern Arizona Planned Parenthood. “They have affirmed that the decision about an abortion is one of a woman’s right to privacy, between a woman and her physician.” Feldt said the decision recognizes that abortion is more a “personal decision” than one involving the public interest. And she said that most of the provisions struck down in today’s rulings had been proposed by Skelly and others in anti – abortion bills offered in recent legislative sessions. Abortion foes were heartened