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

Newspaper article, Phoenix Gazette, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

O’Connor Worth $1 Million

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

WASHINGTON (AP) – Sandra D. O’Connor, nominated by President Reagan to be the first woman on the Supreme Court, says she and her husband are worth more than $1.1 million. The sum, which would place her among the wealthiest members of the court, includes her home in Paradise Valley valued at $300,- 000 and a joint partnership interest with her husband in a private law firm worth $342,850. Judge O’Connor’s husband, John J. O’Connor III, is a senior partner in the firm of Fennemore, Craig, Von Ammon & Udall, one of Arizona’s largest. Judge O’Connor bas been a judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals since 1979. THE financial statement was submitted last week to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which begins three days of public hearings on the nomination next Wednesday. Judge O’Connor arrived in Washington Tuesday for “isolated study and preparation” for her testimony at the hearings, a White House spokesman said today. Her nomination is expected to easily win Senate approval. In a statement to the committee, Judge O’Connor said she supports a limited role for the federal courts and is “keenly aware of the problems associated with ‘judicial activism.'” “THE separation of powers principle also requires judges to avoid substituting their own views of what is desirable in a particular case for those of the legislature,” she wrote. Judges are “ill-equipped” to. substitute their views for the executive or legislative branches, which are more “attuned to the public will” and more “politically

Mesa Tribune, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

O’Connor wins unanimous approval

Mesa Tribune, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

WASIIlNGTON (UPI) – The Senate voted unanimously Monday to confirm Sandra Day O’Connor as the nation’s first woman justice of the Supreme Court in a vote hailed as a turning point in U.S. political history. The vote was 99-0. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., was the only absentee. Cautioned against any demonstration, spectators thronging the Senate gallery kept silent during the 20-minute roll call and the announcement of the outcome. But outside the Capitol, a huge crowd greeted Mrs. O’Connor with cheers as she arrived with Attorney General William French Smith and posed for pictures with Vice President George Bush and Senate leaders. “I’m absolutely overjoyed with the expression of support from the Senate and my hope is that 10 years from now, after I’ve been across the street at work for awhile, they will feel glad they gave me the wonderful vote they did today.” Mrs. O’Connor said. “I’ll certainly work hard to make that happen.” President Reagan promptly issued a statement saying, “This is truly a happy and historic day for America,” and expressing gratitude for the unanimous vote He called Mrs. O’Connor “a very warm and brilliant woman” and said he is sure “the court and the nation will benefit both from her lifetime of work, service and experience in the legal profession, and from her solid grasp of ow Constitution, ivhich she reveres.” Mrs. O’Connor is tentatively scheduled to be sworn in Friday and will be on the bench when the high court opens its 1981-82 term Oct. 5. After

Minneapolis Tribune, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

O’Connor will do well, her colleagues say

Minneapolis Tribune, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

Phoenix, Ariz. Those who know her best are convinced sandra Day O’Connor is well suited to become a national symbol – the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court. “None could have met that challenge better than she,” said Superior Judge Robert Broomfield, with whom O’Connor served as a trial judge for four years. Her colleagues and acquaintances use similar phrases in describing sandra Day O’Connor – the judge, lawyer, state legislator, civic activist, mother of three. Phrases like “stem but fair,” “dedicated perfectionist,” “highly organized” are some. Nominated by President Reagan last week as “a person for all seasons,” O’Connor would fill the vacancy created by Potter Stewart’s retirement. Senate confirmation of her unique place In the court’s 191-year history appears assured, despite opposition from antiabortion forces. But who Is this 51-year-old woman who was unknown on the national scene until two weeks ago? Ada Mae Day remembers her daughter sandra, the oldest of three children, as “an active child, very fast and willing to accept responsibility” on the family’s sprawling cattle ranch In southeast Arizona, hard by the New Mexico border. As a child, her mother recalls, Sandra liked both to read and to help the Lazy B’s ranch hands do some of their toughest chores . When she en tered her teens, Sandra returned to El Paso, Texas, her birthplace, to live with her maternal grandmother and attend the Radford School for girls, called a “f inishing school” back then . She

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

O’Connor Visits Key Lawmakers

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

WASHINGTON (AP) – With a personal hand from Attorney General William French Smith and optimistic predictions from Senate leaders, Sandra Day O’Connor yesterday began a personal campaign to assure her confirmation as the first female Supreme Court justice. O’Connor met for four hours with Smith and other Justice Department officials and then moved on to Capitol Hill for meetings with more than a dozen influential members of the House and Senate. Among them were Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker and Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “A great number of senators have expressed support, some publicly, some privately,” Baker said. “None has expressed opposition.” Later in the week, the Arizona appeals court judge is to meet with conservative senators including Jesse Helms, R-N.C., , ‘ . who have questioned O’Connor s views on legalized abortion. But Baker played down the importance of the issue in the confirmation process, which he said should be over before the Supreme Court begin~ i~ Octobe~ session. “I am convinced this 1s not an issue that should be significant in considering her confirmation,” Baker said. Thurmond, meanwhile, predicted easy confirmation by the Senate, although he advised O’Connor there were some potential votes against her. “She is a very impressive lady, a very intelligent lady,” Thurmond said after a half-hour meeting in his Senate office. “I told her there was some opposition to her.” O’Connor later met with Baker and

Arizona Republic, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

O’Connor urges judges to tailor rulings

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

RENO, Nev. – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra O’Connor urged state judges Friday to tailor decisions carefully so that fewer cases reach the high court. O’Connor, speaking to graduates of the financially strapped National Judicial College, also called for greater emphasis on judicial education and training. O’Connor added that as a state-court judge in Arizona, “I didn’t fully appreciate the extent to which the manner of my resolution of a case could determine” whether it could be appealed to federal courts. She said state-court judges don’t realize that many of their rulings could be final if they are based solely on state law rather than federal law. “The Supreme Court is bound to accept the highest state-court view on issues of state law,” O’Connor told 105 judges from around the nation completing sessions at the college. “State courts have the power, in effect, to grant or withhold jurisdiction from the Supreme Court . . . merely by the choice and articulation of the grounds of the state-court decision,” she said. O’Connor added that as a state-court judge in Arizona, “I didn’t fully appreciate the extent to which the manner of my resolution of a case could determine” whether it could be appealed to federal courts. O’Connor is the first high-rourt justice to have attended the Judicial College, which offers training and refresher courses for the nation’s judges. She attended while still a Superior Court judge in Arizona. O’Connor joked that she is proud to have attended

Newspaper article, Rocky Mountain News, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

O’Connor unanimously confirmed to high court

Newspaper article, Rocky Mountain News, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Senate ending an all-male tradition nearly two centuries old, unanimously confirmed Sandra Day O’Connor as an associate justice of the Supreme Court on Monday. O’Connor, 51-year-old Arizona state apeals Judge, Will be sworn in Friday in time to JOID the court for the opening of its 1981-82 term on October 5. The vote was 99-0, with only Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mon!,, ~ho was attending an economic conference in his home state, missing from the tally. He had supported O’Connor in earlier committee action. After the vote, O’Connor appeared on the steps of the Capitol with Senate leaders and Vice President George Bush. Grinning jubilantly, she said she was overjoyed by the depth of Senate support for her nomination. “My hope is that after I’ve been across the street and worked for a while that they’ll all feel glad for the wonderful vote they gave me today,” she said. Once installed on the the court, she said,”l’m going to get very busy, very fast.” Today is truly a historic occasion,” said Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee leading off a series of 22 speeches in warm praise of President Reagan’s first high court nominee. Hailing a “happy and historic day,” Reagan said in a statement the confirmation of his nominee “symbolizes the.richness of opportunity that still abides in America – opportunity that permits persons of any sex, age or race, from every section and walk of life, to aspire and achieve in a manner never before even

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

O’Connor to meet senators

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

PHOENIX – Resonding to early warning signs of op- . position to her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, Sandra Day O’Connor headed for Washington, D.C., today and a meeting with such key senators as Jesse Helms, RN.C. Among others, the Arizona appeals court judge was to met with Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-8.C., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee; Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker and other Senate leaders; various members of the judiciary panel, and Helms, a leader of Republican conservatives in the Senate.