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

O’Connor takes oath as Justice

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

Sandra D. O’Connor became an associate justice of the Supreme Court yesterday, the first woman in U.S. history to bear that title. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger administered the constitutional oath of office at 2:16 p.m. before about 400 dignitaries and friends of the O’Connor family who packed the mammoth Supreme Court chamber. “Justice O’Connor, welcome,” Burger said simply. Then, after peing helped into her black judge’s robe, O’Connor took the chair assigned to her by seniority, the one on the end of the bench to Burger’s extreme left. Sitting next to her was her Stanford law school classmate, Justice William H. Rehnquist. From the raised bench, where no woman has sat in the 191-year history of the Supreme Court, she smiled down on President Reagan just below her. O’Connor is the 102nd justice and the first appointment to the court by Reagan. At 51, O’Connor is the youngest member of the court, which has five justices over 70. Her first public appearance at the court came at noon yesterday. She and Burger, his snow-white hair glistening in the sun, descended the front steps to pose for pictures. Burger clutched her arm and commented to reporters that “You’ve never seen me with a better-looking justice.” O’Connor’s husband, three sons and mother and father joined them on the court plaza for the pictures. She shouted to a friend to take pictures of the photographers for her scrapbook. She then went inside to take her first oath of the day, the “judicial oath,” which calls

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

O’Connor takes oath

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

WASHINGTON (AP) – Sandra Day O’Connor raised her right hand and swore the oath of office today as the 102nd American – and the first woman – to sit on the Supreme Court. Vowing to “do equal right to the poor and to the rich,” the former Arizona legislator and appeals court judge became Justice O’Connor during a brief ceremony in the marble and mahogany courtroom of the nation’s highest court. President Reagan, who broke a 191-year tradition when he appointed O’Connor to the lifetime position, was among the 500 guests who watched Chief Justice Warren E. Burger administer the oath of office. Also on hand was retired associate justice Potter Stewart, whom O’Connor replaced. Two hours earlier, O’Connor had posed for photographers and television camera crews in the brilliant sunlight of the court’s massive front plaza. Burger, who accompanied her, asked photographers, “You’ve never seen me with a better looking justice, have you?” Asked how she felt on the threshold of history, O’Connor smiled and replied, “Just great.” She was dressed in the robe she wore as a state judge. “I’ll buy a new one eventually,” she said. “They do get old, you know. The arms get all worn out.” Burger suggested Congress might be willing to appropriate funds for a new robe . O’Connor, her arm held by Burger, posed with her parents , Harry and Ada Mae Day; her husband, John; and their three sons . O’Connor appeared relaxed, and laughed heartily as a close family friend, former Phoenix Mayor John Driggs ,

Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection, Yuma Daily Sun

O’Connor sworn in today

Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection, Yuma Daily Sun / By

WASHINGTON (AP) – Sandra Day O’Connor raised her right hand and swore the oath of office today as the 102nd American – and the first woman – to sit on the Supreme Court. Justice O’Connor, an Arizona appeals court judge before she was picked to become an associate justice of the nation’s highest court, promised to uphold the Constitution and “faithfully discharge the duties of my office.” Asked by Chief Justice Warren E. Burger if she were ready to take her oath, Mrs. O’Connor replied in a steady voice: “I am.” With her right hand aloft and her left hand on a Bible, Mrs. O’Connor completed the oath flawlessly. Burger was the first to call her “Justice O’Connor” as he welcomed her to the court. Two hours before her swearing-in, Mrs. O’Connor posed for photographers and television camera crews in the brilliant sunlight of the court’s massive front plaza. She was accompanied by Burger, who asked photographers, “You’ve never seen me with a better looking justice, have you?” She was dressed in the robe she wore as a state judge. “I’ll buy a new one eventually,” she said. “They do get old, you know. The arms get all worn out.” The chief justice suggested that Congress might be willing to appropriate funds for a new robe. Mrs. O’Connor, her arm held by Burger, posed with her parents, Harry and Ada Mae Day; her husband, John; and their three sons. Mrs. O’Connor appeared relaxed, and laughed heartily as a close family friend, former Phoenix Mayor John. Driggs, turned the tables on reporters

Newspaper article, Phoenix Gazette, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

O’Connor Support Grows

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

WASHINGTON – More than half the Senate either supports andra D. O’Connor for the Supreme ourt or is leaning that way, and here are no definite votes against her yet, an Associated Press survey hows The survey, taken Wednesday and Thursday, found 33 senators committed to vote for the 51-year-old Arizona appeals court judge and 20 leaning toward supporting her nomination as the first woman Supreme Court justice. There were no declarations of opposition, with 45 senators undecided and two not responding to the survey.

But many among the 45 undecided senators said they were pleased President Reagan had chosen a woman and, while they had made no firm decisions, would be inclined to support her from what is known from initial press reports and other sources about her background . Those committed to Judge O’Connor spill across the political spectrum, ranging from Republicans S.I. Hayakawa of California and Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, the Judiciary Committee chairman , to Democrats Bill Bradley of New Jersey and Alan Cranston of California, the assistant minority leader. Many senators who said they support Judge O’Connor indicated that could change if investigations into her background turned up some unexpected problems.

Typical of the responses was that of Sen. LLoyd Bentsen, D-Texas, who declined to say he would definitely vote for Judge O’Connor. “I don’t know much about the nominee, but I commend the president for his decision to name the first woman to sit on the highest

Newspaper article, Phoenix Gazette, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

O’Connor Steps Aside on 3 Court Rulings

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

WASHINGTON (UPI) – Sandra O’Connor, the Supreme Court’s first woman justice, disqualified herself from three of the 15 cases argued before the court during her first three days on the bench.

Following court custom, Judge O’Connor gave no reason for excusing herself from the cases that were the subject of oral arguments, court spokesman Barrett McGurn said Wednesday.

It is not uncommon for a justice to occasionally disqualify himself from a case, possibly because of a conflict of interest. But three disqualifications by the same judge in three days is highly unusual.

McGurn said: “The tradition is not to state a reason – just to step aside. There are a variety of reasons why justices stand aside, sometimes because of old law firm associations or some other personal contact or other.”

Before joining the court, Judge O’Connor was an Arizona state appeals court judge. Before that, she was the Republican leader of the Arizona state Senate. Her husband practices law in Phoenix.

One of the three cases Judge O’Connor did not sit on the bench for involves an effort by Common Cause to get the court to uphold a $1,000 limit on spending by independent political action committees to support a candidate who accepts public money for his campaign.

It pits Common Cause, a self-styled “citizens’ I lobby,” and the Federal Elections Commission against Sen. Harrison Schmitt, R-N.M., and three political action committees that backed President Reagan.

In her first major public action as a Supreme

Arizona Republic, Editorial, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

O’Connor Stands Fast

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

Anti-abortionists may be aghast over the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision against most state restrictions on abortion, but their worst fears about Justice Sandra O’Connor weren’t realized. What the nation saw once again in the first woman member of its highest court was a Jurist true to her principles.

Justice O’Connor dissented from the triple-case ruling. Although she refused to condemn abortion. she came down on the side of local govement and its right to decide whether to impose some regulations on a practice fraught with social and emotional problems. In the process, she remained firm in her faith in government closest to the people it touches. The abortion issue is a politically delicate one , she and Justices Byron White and William Rehnquist said, and local legislatures should have to face it. The court’s majority decided that Akron Ohio, had gone overboard with its 24-hr waiting period and “informed consent” impediments to abortion – impediments which prompt women to seek often-dangerous “underground” operations. A major issue in the cases was the requirement that second-trimester abortions be performed in hospitals. That makes little medical sense – and no economic sense at all with hospital costs already out of control. Sensibly enough. the court majority left states with the right to determine when a minor may have an abQrtion . But Justice Lewis Powell and the Supreme Court’s majority clearly confirmed – and even broadened – their 1973 commitment to women’s privacy

Houston Chronicle, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

New justice lacks favor of lawyers, but has ‘gumption’

Houston Chronicle, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / 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, Jennin_gs, by then having returned lo private practice, stood m 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 lo stop there, O’Connor reportedly complained to the state bar disciplinary board that Jennings then 79 years old, was senile and should be remov~d from practice. “For Sandra to 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 iinporlant, 1_t has made her a strong, sometimes gutsy judge who rigidly respects the legal process and is intolerant of those who take it less seriously. Ask defense lawyer Lionel Estrada. “She embarrassed me terribly,” he says, referring to a case in which O’Connor sentenced his client to 30 to 50 years for rape and sodomy and then vacated the conviction because Estrada had, she said, handled the case incompetently.

Chicago Tribune, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

O’Connor’s record: conservative, fair

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

WASHINGTON – In Sandra D. O’Connor, President Reagan has chosen a United States Supreme Court justice whose views are moderately conservative to the extent that her views can be discerned at all. As one of nine judges of the middle-level Arizona Court of Appeals since 1979, Judge O’Connor, 51, has written no opinions that reveal either a political

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ideology or a judicial philosophy, according to Arizona lawyers. As a member of the state legislature for seven years before that, state Sen. O’Connor was conservative, as are nearly all Arizona Republicans, but she was not predictably conservative on every issue. This could explain why moderates and liberals joined most conservatives Tuesday in praising Mrs. O’Connor’s intelligence, qualifications, and fairness. “IF YOU’RE going to have a Ronald Reagan appointment, you’re not going to do any better,” said Rep. Morris Udall

Editorial, Mesa Tribune, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

O’Connor solid member of the conservative wing

Editorial, Mesa Tribune, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

WASHINGTON – Sandra O’Connor, after her first term as a Supreme Court justice, is a solid member of the court’s conservative wing. In the session that ended Friday, O’Connor voted to: – Give local school boards unlimited power to remove books they find offensive from high school and junior high libraries. Her side lost. – Let Washington state voters bar a school busing plan voluntarily adopted by the city of Seattle to achieve racial balance. Again, she was on the losing end. – Allow states to execute “non-triggerman” criminals whose crimes resulted in a death even though they did not intend to take part in a killing. Another minority view. O’Connor’s overall voting record indicates just how much she has joined the court’s conservative side since she was sworn in last September. In the 31 cases decided by 5-4 votes – rulings that generally indicate the thorniest disputes between liberals and conservatives – O’Connor sided with ultra-conservative Justice William Rehnquist 27 wnes. She sided only four times in 5-4 decisions with Justice William Brennan, leader of the court’s liberals. Only once were the three justices on the same side in a 5-4 ruling, a relatively minor case. In other key cases during the just-completed term, the 52-year-old O’Connor voted to: – Bar all lawsuits seeking monetary damages from U.S. presidents for misconduct in office. Her side prevailed. – Deny illegal alien children a free public school education. A minority view. – Expand the power of police to