Mesa Tribune, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

Pardon me…’ Lawyer interrupts O’Connor

Mesa Tribune, 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 Adion Educational Foundation, shot back: “Just a minute, your honor.” Silard, who also had asked several other justices to hold up on questions while he finished a point, went on to complete his answer to a previous question ltom the bench. Then he beckoned to Justice O’Connor, who said “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. The secretary would still be free to use other experiments.” Her query referred to California’a 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 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 at Justice O’Connor and saying he hoped the court’s decision would grant “a new life to

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

Panel OKs O’Connor

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

WASHINGTON (AP) -Sandra Day O’Connor today won overwhehning approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee for her nomination to become the first woman on the Supreme Court. The vote was 17–0, with one member voting present. Sen. Jeremiah Denton, R-Ala., said he could not vote for the nomination without knowing O’Connor’s specific views on abortion. Sixteen senators voted to approve the nomination and then Denton and Sen. John East withheld their votes while they made statements explaining their decisions. East, R-N.C., then voted yes. Denton voted “present.” Denton, who had questioned O’Connor at length about her views on abortion, has said he felt frustrated because he could not determine where O’Connor was “coming from philosophically” on abortion. “I know very little about Judge O’Connor’s opinions on the grave legal issues of the day ,” Denton said in his statement today. Denton said O’Connor is a “fine lady and distinguished jurist” but said he was unable to support her nomination without knowing more about her beli~fs concerning abortion. East said he was similarly troubled but cast his vote for the nomination because he believes O’Connor to be “a conservative woman of conservative instincts .” Although she refused to disclose her specific views on the constitutionality of the 1973 Supreme ‘ Court decision legalizing abortion, East said “I feel down in my heart of hearts” that she would not have supported the ruling. East also said he was supporting the nomina – tion because

Newspaper article, Prescott Courier, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

Panel OKs nominee O’Connor

Newspaper article, Prescott Courier, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

WASHINGTON (AP)-Sandra Day O’Connor today won overwhelming approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee for her nomination to become the first woman on the Supreme Court . The vote was 17-0, with one member voting present . Sen. Jeremiah Denton, R-Ala ., said he could not vote for the nomination without knowing Mrs. O’Connor’s specific views on abortion. Sixteen senators voted to approve the nomination and then Denton and Sen. John East withheld their votes while they made statements explaining their decisions. East , R-N.C., then voted yes. Denton voted “pres- ent.” Denton, who had questioned Mrs. O’Connor at length about her views on abortion, has said he felt frustrated because he could not determine where Mrs. O’Connor was “coming from philosophically” on abortion. “I know very little about Judge O’Connor’s opinions on the grave legal issues of the day,” Denton said in his statement today. Denton said Mrs . O’Connor is a ”fine lady and distinguished jurist” but said he was unable to support her nomination wit~out knowing more about her behefs concerning abortion. East said he was similarly troubled but cast his vote for the nomination because he believes Mrs. O’Connor to be “a conservative woman of conservative instincts.” Although she refused to disclose her specific views on the constitutionality of the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, East said, “I feel down in my heart of hearts” that she would not have supported the ruling.

East also said he was supporting

Denver Post, Editorial, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

Other Views

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

RONALD REAGAN did what he had to do and named a woman to the Supreme Court. From all accounts , Sandra Day O’Connor is a conservative who is respected by conservatives and liberals alike as an able judge, a thoughtful legal scholar and a clear writer. Her political background – she was the first and only woman to serve as majority leader in the Arizona state senate – could be an asset in a job where nine individuals must come to a consensus on a regular basis. That she is a mother of three means that she will bring a perspective to the job that differs significantly from that of the men who have preceded her. That she is a woman may change the dynamic of the current court in subtle, possibly even dramatic, ways. Although Reagan denied he was naming a woman merely to do so, he had no other choice politically . His record on women’s issues is weak, so weak that even conservative Republican women have criticized him pub- licly in recent weeks for failing to name siJnificant numbers of women to positions tn the administration. The absence of a woman from the Supreme Court bas symbolically and sometimes effectively disenfranchised the women of this country for the past two centuries. In recent years the high court has been criticized, and rightly so, as an institution with limited un- derstanding of women and their roles in the family and society. O’Connor, who was offered a job as a legal secretary after graduating third in her class from Stanford Law School, bas bad firsthand experience

Editorial, The Kauffman-Henry Collection, The New York Times

Only Ultras Fight Mrs. O’Connor for the High Court

Editorial, The Kauffman-Henry Collection, The New York Times / By

“Honored and happy,” Sandra Day O’Connor was also silent and circumspect on questions of her judicial philosophy last week after President Reagan nominated her as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. The 51-year-old Arizona state judge would be the first woman on the Court. Her interpretation of the Constitution, Judge O’Connor said, must await the Senate confirmation hearings now likely in September. This discreet silence, coupled with ambiguity In some aspects of her legislative and judicial biography, allowed for enough different interpretations to prompt qualified support from feminist groups while touching off connect within the President’s own conservative camp. Despite the dustup, however, early predictions had her taking former Justice Potter Stewart’s seat on the Court by the October term. A conservative Justice was what President Reagan wanted, particularly one who would exercise restraint and deference to the legislative branch In making law and shaping social policy. ( Justice Rehnquist, the Court’s resident conservative, page22.) “She’s establishment Republican,” said a leading Democratic politician, adding, however, that she was not “of the knee-jerk mold.” An Arizona Assistant Attorney General from 1965 through 1968, Judge O’Connor joined the state Senate in 1969 and became the first woman to serve as majority leader. She compiled a record of mainstream, conservative Republicanism that helped her win election as a Superior Court judge In 1975

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

On abortion issue Reagan: Let judge speak

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

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Reagan is telling angry conservatives to let Sandra D. O’Connor speak for herseH on abortion and other issues before declaring her unsuitable for the Supreme Court. Her turn may come at Senate hearings later this month. But even as Reagan tried to douse a political brushfire sparked by the nomination, White House and congressional leaders predicted the 51-year-old Arizona appeals judge from Paradise Valley will be confinned as the first woman justice with no problems. Sen. Strom Thwmond , R-S.C., a ranking conservative and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Wednesday that he hopes to begin hearings by late July. A confirmation vote then could come in September, after Congress’ midswruner vacation and before the Supreme Court’s fall term begins in October. “I would say the Senate will confirm her unless something comes up that we don’t know about,” Thurmond said. Nevertheless, Reagan was trying to calm a storm brewing on the religious and political right over O’Connor’s views on abortions and women’s rights. The objections concern O’Connor’s votes against several pieces of anti-abortion legislation while she was a member of the Arizona Senate. White House officials, however, insist she opposes abortion. Spokesman David Gergen said Wednesday that 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 to fully examine

Op ed, The Kauffman-Henry Collection, Washington Star

Of Judge O’Connor and Her Enemies

Op ed, The Kauffman-Henry Collection, Washington Star / By

Concerning Mr. Reagan’s choice for the Supreme Court, a few obser• vations : 1) To favor Mrs. O’Connor’s con• firmation is not the same as saying that there wasn’t a better qualified jurist around. But that much can said at almost any moment any president is called on to make a selection. Clearly Mr. Reagan’s thought was dominated by his anxiety to name a woman. While skeptical of the proposition that the Supreme Court should be sexually (or racially) representative, in fact the presence of a woman in the court serves two purposes. The first is to demonstrate that Mr. Reagan’s political promises are not mere campaign oratory. These~- ond is to demonstrate that a president who opposes the Equal Rig~ts Amendment is not for that reason insensitive to the desire of women to demonstrate that there are no political boundaries to their ascendancy. The Abortion Question 2) On the question of whether Mrs. O’Connor is for or against abortion, we are told by the president that she opposes abortion. Presumably_ he had this confidence from her, smce Mrs. O’Connor has hardly been volu• ble on the subject, one way or an• other. Her opponents point especially to her blocking, in 1973 in the Arizona legislature, a resolution that _was proposed as an appendag~ to a p1~ce of legislation, a resolution callmg for a constitutional amendment to prohibit abortion. But Mrs. O’Connor pointed out that her opposition was procedural. Because under Arizona 1aw, nongermane resolutions are forbidden. She was

Newspaper article, Phoenix Gazette, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

Officials Hail O’Connor Nomination

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

U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater found out Arizona Appeals Court Judge Sandra O’Connor had been chosen for the U.S. Supreme Court when President Reagan called the senator’s airborne plane this morning. “I think the president has taken a great step,” Goldwater later told his Washington staff which also contacted the senator during his Washington to El Paso flight. “The president could find literally hundreds of qualified women attorneys and jurists in this country, but I douf>t that he could ever find one more qualified to occupy a seat on the United States Supreme Court than Sandra O’Connor, whom I have known for years and greatly respect and admire,” the senator said. Goldwater, R-Ariz., met Monday night with Reagan to again urge the appointment and had been one of Judge O’Connor’s earliest endorsers for the appointment. Goldwater’s support today set the pace for other Arizonans when they heard the news. Gov. Bruce Babbitt, who appointed Judge O’Connor to the appeals court, said, “I am confident that Sandra O’Connor will distinguish herself as a member of the Supreme Court. President Reagan is to be congratulated for making an outstanding selection.” The governor noted, “After I became governor, I appointed Sandra to fill the first vacany that came open on the Court of Appeals. Her abiliities were so obvious that I actively sought her out to serve on the court. That was the only time I have done that.” “Her judicial temperment, knowledge of the law and her willingness to work long