Newspaper article, San Francisco Chronicle, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

O’Connor sails along toward confirmation

Newspaper article, San Francisco Chronicle, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

Despite persistent questioning, Sandra Day O’Connor finished two days of Senate confirmation hearings yesterday with every prospect of becoming the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court. Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee heaped praise on the Arizona appeals court judge after their often intense interrogation failed to raise any major stumbling blocks to her confirmation. Unless interest groups opposed to her positions on social issues – groups that are scheduled to testify today on her nomination – find new issues on her fitness, O’Connor appeared to have cinched easy Senate approval. The hearings are to end today, and a committee vote is scheduled for early next week. Speaking on crime, she said there has been a “general breakdown ” of society’s standards on moral behavior. Although she said she has no solutions, she expressed the view that a mobile society with its lack of family and neighborhood ties contributes to an unacceptably high crime rate. Under questioning from Senator Max Baucus, D-Mont., she conceded that she still agrees with her 1970 vote that opposed a move to strip the Supreme Court of its right to review such issues as abortion. Despite repeated attempts to zero in on her abortion views, O’Connor evaded any outright declarations of her legal position on the inflammatory subject. She said she herself would not have an abortion, but she approves of the procedure if it is needed to save a mother’s life.

[Photo caption: As Sandra Day O’Connor_ testified

Newspaper mention, Phoenix Gazette, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

O’Connor Robe Judged as Mini

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

WASHINGTON – The consensus was that Sandra Day O’Connor’s judicial robe, black and simple, was simply too short . The robe, one from her days as an Arizona Appeals Court judge, demurely covered the knee. But observers – read that the cynical members of the Washington press corps – judged the robe as too short for a member of the nation’s highest court. For one thing, the robe was just a hair shorter than her dress, allowing a fraction of her pink hem to peek from beneath the austere garment. Secondly, the robe looked strangely mini as Justice O’Connor posed for pictures with her family, President and Mrs. Reagan and Chief Justice Warren E. Burger and his wife, Elvera. In contrast, Burger looked immensely judicial. His sweeping black robe comes to midcalf.

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

O’Connor reveals few hints about how she’ll vote

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

WASHINGTON (AP) – Sandra Day O’Connor remains largely a legal puzzle despite three days of Capitol Hill scrutiny. No one, including the Senate Judiciary Committee’s 18 members who are expected to vote Tuesday to approve her nomination to the Supreme Court, can predict with certainty how she will vote as a justice. But last week’s confirmation hearings provided some hints. Mrs. O’Connor, a 51-year-old Arizona appeals court judge who labored in relative obscunty until picked by President Reagan to replace retired Justice Potter Stewart and become the first woman ever on the nation’s highest court, shares the personal views of many conservatives. She finds abortion “repugnant,” thinks it “inappropriate” for women to participate in combat during war time, opposes busing for school integration, favors the death penalty for certain crimes, and believes the courts in some instances may be too soft on criminals. But Mrs. O’Connor repeatedly warned her Senate interrogators about reading too much into her personal views, saying they do not control her judicial votes. For example, when asked about busing to desegregate schools, Mrs. O’Connor voiced general opposition. Busing “can be a very disruptive part of any child’s education,” she said. But at another point, Mrs. O’Connor said federal judges sometimes are justified in ordering drastic steps to remedy “intentional constitutional violations” – the stated basis for such broad desegregation orders. Only on the subject of capital punishment

Copper Era, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

O’Connor rests at ranch

Copper Era, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

DUNCAN – Judge Sandra Day O’Connor, arrived at noon Aug. 20 to visit her parents Harry and Ada Mae Day of the Lazy B. Ranch. Alan Day new to Phoenix to escort his sister to the ranch for a short visit. The main purpose of Judge O’Connor’s trip was to see her parents, whom she bad not been with since she was nominated as the first woman to the United States Supr_eme Court. O1.,;onnor said she bas such a tight schedule that her visit had to be brief at the Lazy B. She has to be in Washington for her confirmation bearing Sept. 9, JO & II, which will be held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. When O’Connor called and indicated plans for a trip home to the Lazy B, Alan and Barbara Day decided to have a get-together for family and friends. The guests were present from 7-9 p.m. Thursday at the Ranch. The evening of special invited guests was brief, to allow the judge time with her parents alone. Sandra wanted to make sure she saw her parents before the confirmation in Washington, in case the Day’s were unable to make the trip. During the afternoon Ralph “Bug” Quinn and Claude Tippets of Franklin came to visit Sandra. Quinn has been a Lazy B employee for 60 years. He still worts at the ranch especially during round-up as the cook. Quinn was around Sandra while she was growing up and is a long time friend. Tippets is an old cowboy friend of the family. He has worked on the ranch for over 50 years and still worts there today. Tippets knew Sandra as a baby and while she grew up on the

Newspaper article, Phoenix Gazette, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

O’Connor rates as top influencial woman in poll

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

ENEW YORK – Sandra Day O’Connor, the first and only woman ever named to the U.S. Supreme Court, won hands down as the most influential woman in America in 1982. The list, announced today, showed. the justice with 81 votes among the 133 possibles in the World Almanac’s annual compilation done through editorial representatives on major newspapers. O’Connor was a former Arizona legislator and Superior Court and Appeals Court judge. Katharine Graham, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the Washington Post, ran a close second with 75 votes, followed by Billie Jean King, the champion tennis player, with 60. Last year Graham and King tied for the No. 1 spot. Graham has been on the list ever since the World Almanac started compiling it in 1977. Jane D. Flatt, Almanac publisher, said O’Connor probably did not make the 1981 list simply because she was fairly new to the job. Jeane Kirkpatrick, chief U.S. delegate to the United Nations, won 44 votes, first lady ]’J;,mc . R~a~a!I,. S6. )30th :”ome~ trailed Eleanor Smeal, until recently president of the National Organization for Women (with 53); Phyllis Schlafly, leader of the stop-ERA movement (52) and Gloria Steinem, editor of MS magazine (52).

Brooke Shields, the beautiful teen-age model and actress, polled 27, becoming the youngest “influential” ever named to the list.

Graham, Barbara Walters and Barbara Jordan, teaching at the University of Texas, are the only three to have been named to the list fro the past six years.

The

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

O’Connor proves justices can be popular

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

It can be said of Supreme Court justices that most Americans would not know one when they saw one. This year, however, one made the cover of People magazine. Sandra Day O’Connor is stopped in public places and asked for autographs. It can be said of oral argument at the Supreme Court that it is not one of the most popular shows in town. But this year, attendance by the public in the first two months of the term increased 30 percent. The eight other justices seem socially invisible in this town. But there are so many requests for social commitments by O’Connor that she apparently does not have time to see fully what she is getting into. O’Connor recently found. herself contributing two autographed copies of the Decl8.l’ation of Independence to what turned out to be a fundraising auction for a legal defense fund. That is taboo for Supreme Court justices. A court spokesman said that being “flooded with requests, she was unaware” of the auction’s purpose. Nobody cares much about the comings and goings of, say, Justice Harry A. Blackmun. Nobody cared, for example, that Chief Justice Warren E. Burger rode a bicycle until an accident some years ago. This year, there have been several inquiries about where O’Connor takes her exercise class, an item and cartoon in the American Bar Association journal about how she was asked for check-cashing identification at a local supermarket and a mention in the Ear gossip column about how she was spotted unloading personal belongings from a UHaul

Chandler Arizonan, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

O’Connor Promises to be ‘Very Busy, Very Fast’

Chandler Arizonan, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

WASHINGTON (AP) -Sandra Day O’Connor, confirmed by a unanimous Senate as the first woman justice on the Supreme Court, promises to be “very busy, very fast” after she is sworn in later this week. There is no clear indication, however, how she will vote on social and constitutional issues that come before the court. The 51-year-old Arizona appeals judge won a 99-0 endorsement in the Senate on Monday as the 102nd justice in the 191-yea’r history of the nation’s highest court. She will be youngest of the nine members. Mrs. O’Connor will be sworn in for the lifetime appointment in ceremonies Friday in the Supreme Court building. “My hope is that 10 years from now, 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,” a smiling Mrs. O’Connor said at an appearance on the Capitol steps. Once installed on the court, which opens its 1981-82 term Oct. 5, “I’m going to get very busy, very fast,” Mrs. O’Connor said. Reagan hailed a “happy and historic day” and said in a statement that Mrs. O’Connor’s confirmation “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 dreamed about in human history.” The vote, following four hours of laudatory speeches by conservatives and liberals alike, was a vic-tory for Reagan as well as Mrs. O’Connor. Opposition to Mrs.

Arizona Republic, Newspaper article

“O’Connor presses Ariz. reforms”

Arizona Republic, Newspaper article / By

Broad-based group agrees changes needed in state government, elections

Arizonan and retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is lending her name and reputation to a broad-based effort to reform state government and elections. O’Connor, a resident of Paradise Valley and the nation’s first female Supreme Court justice, is the namesake for the O’Connor House Project. The effort has brought together some of the state’s heaviest hitters in business, government, education and public policy, with focus on potential ballot measures that would, among other things, create a Lieutenant Governor’s Office and scrap the state’s publicly financed Clean Elections system.

Quietly meeting since May, project members gathered again Thursday to whittle down proposals they’ll ultimately ask the Legislature to refer to the 2010 ballot.

“This is a group of citizens of the state of Arizona. As citizens, we care about our state,” O’Connor said following the closed-­door meeting. “We love this state. We see a need for a few changes.”

Local government is heavily represented among the group’s members, as are business, agricultural and philanthropic interests. Politically, the group’s membership spans the spectrum, from the National Rifle Association to the Sierra Club. The Arizona Republic also is a participant.

[Photo caption: Sandra Day O’Connor is seeking reforms in Arizona’s government.]

“She’s just a well-respected individual,” group member Tim Dunn, a Yuma farmer and vice president

Newspaper article, Prescott Courier, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

O’Connor poised at panel questioning

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

WASHINGTON (AP) – From her first moment in the congressional spotlight to her final day of testimony, Sandra Day O’Connor quickly disarmed her conservative opposition and set the stage for this week’s Senate vote on her Supreme Court nomination. As a result, Mrs. O’Connor, chosen by President Reagan to become the first woman on the high court, is likely to be confirmed with barely a ripple of opposition. Admittedly, a ‘Strong feeling in Congress that it is time to end 191 years of all-male domination of the high court is giving Mrs. O’ComJor’s nomination an added boost . Support for the nomination also has crossed party lines. “I have finally found an issue on which I can agree with Sen. (Barry) Goldwater,” said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., a member of the Judiciary Committee. Goldwater, R-Ariz., is an avid supporter of Mrs. O’Connor, an Arizona appeals court judge. A vote is scheduled Tuesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee with confirmation in the full Senate likely the next day . Congress also was expected this week to receive President Reagan ‘s latest rounds of budget cuts, including a proposal to cut $13 billion from the defense budget. The Senate planned to vote on a new attempt to break a liberal -led filibuster against a ban on school busing, while the House was scheduled to consider legislation that would • increase military pay scales. The strongest challenges to Mrs. O’Connor’s nomination came almost exclusively from the increasinglypowerful organizations –

News and Courier, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

O’Connor pledges Judicial objectivity

News and Courier, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

WASHINGTON (AP) – Sandra Day O’Connor, apparently coasting toward easy confirmation as the first woman on the Supreme Court said Wednesday she personally believes abortion is abhorrent, but would not let her opinion affect how she handled the issue as a member of the court. “It is a practice I would not have engaged in,” Mrs. O’Connor told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee considering her nomination. Describing her own “abhorrence” to abortion the 51-year-old Arizona appeals court judge said her feelings about the subject are a product of her sense of family values, my sense of how I lead my own life.” Nonetheless, she insisted that “personal views and philosophies” would not be allowed – “as much as that is possible” – to affect her judgment on the facts or constitutionality of cases before the court. After nearly six hours of testimony by Mrs. O’Connor, Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., the committee chairman, predicted untroubled confirmation by the panel and the full Senate . He said a vote in the committee could come as early as Tuesday, with a Senate vote the next day. “I think she handled herself quite well ” he said. “I don’t see a problem In her confirmation .” ‘ Thurmond and several other committee members asked questions about abortion, the one issue around which opposition to her nomination has developed. “My own view in the area of abortion is that I am opposed to it as a matter of birth control or otherwise,” she said. “The subject of abortion is a valid one