Chandler Arizonan, Newspaper mention, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

Justice O’Connor gets special honor

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

VALLEY FORGE, Pa. (AP) – Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, VisionQuest and a Flowing Wells High School graduate are a!Ilong the winners of the 1981 Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge National Awards, the foundation announced. Mrs. O’Connor, a former Arizona Court of Appeals judge, won a Distinguished Award from the foundation. Jill Barber, a freshman political economy major at Hillsdale College in Michigan, won a “Youth Essay 1981” George Washington Honor Medal. She was valedictorian of the 1981 Flowing Wells graduating class. The VisionQuest wagon train program for troubled youths won the George Washington Honor Medal for “Community Program 1981” honors. The annual awards recognize individuals and organizations who support U.S. social, polit_ical and economic institutions and present solutions to contemporary problems. Joining Mrs. O’Connor as winners of Distinguished Awards were Beverly Sills, Pearl . Bailey, Arthur Ashe, Rod McKuen, Roger Staubach, the Special Olympics and, posthumously, Anwar Sadat. Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, whose honorary chairman is President Reagan, describes itself as a non-profit, non-sectarian and non-political organization that promotes American heritage.

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

Justice O’Connor declines 3 cases

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

WASHINGTON (AP) – Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is refusing to participate in three of the 11 cases argued during the first week of the court’s 1981-82 term. The newest justice has disqualified herself from the three cases, a member of her staff said Friday, but Justice O’Connor will not say why she stepped aside. The three cases – involving insurance law, worker compensation and federal election financing, are to be decided by next June or July. Federal law and a judicial code of conduct requires federal judges to remove themselves from cases in which it might appear they have a conflict of interest. There are no hard rules for most such disqualifications. Many are left up to individual conscience. But a 1974 law requires disqualification from cases in which a judge has any direct financial interest, no matter how small. From information supplied by Justice O’Connor to the Senate Judiciary Committee during her confirmation hearings last month, no financial reason for disqualification is apparent. Justice O’Connor told the committee she. would disqualify herself from all cases in which her husband ‘s Phoenix law firm “had ever participated as legal counsel for a party concerning the matter.”

Arizona Republic, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

Justice O’Connor credits success to ex-colleagues

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

Supreme Court Justice Sandra O’Connor, honored as Arizona’s home-grown heroine in daylong festivities Wednesday, credited former colleagues and officials for their ability to look beyond her gender for her eventual rise to the high court. “I found in Phoenix not discrimination, but encouragement; not just an opportunity for women to follow, but an opportunity for women to lead,” the former state senator and Arizona Court of Appeals judge said. “It’s not Sandra O’Connor who brought honor to the state of Arizona, it’s the state of Arizona which has brought honor to Sandra O’Connor. And I thank all of you for the part you’ve played in that.” Justice O’Connor, the first…woman appointed to the Supreme Court, was applauded by a long list of dignitaries, including Sen. Dennis DeConcini., Rep. John Rhodes and Gov. Bruce Babbitt. Her day culminated with a lavish banquet at the Arizona Biltmore attended by 850 invited guests. She also was honored by her husband, John, .who voiced his pride. He also noted his own unique status in Washington when he told the audience that he’s the chief executive of the most exclusive men’s club – the Men’s Auxiliary of the Supreme Court. Earlier in the day, at the state Capitol Mall, Justice O’Connor received accolades and gifts from Babbitt, former legislative and judicial colleagues and Phoenix organizations. In her remarks, she praised Phoenix Mayor Margaret Hance, saying with a smile that the mayor is proof that “a woman can do a reasonably good

Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection, Washington Star

Hill Courtesy Calls Planned By O’Connor, Bid Meant to Defuse Opposition on Right

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

O’Connor Sets Visit to Senate Panelists

In an outing expected to help de• fuse pockets of opposition to her nomination to the Supreme Court, Arizona Court of Appeals Judge San• dra D. O’Connor will pay informal courtesy calls to President Reagan and Senate Judiciary Commitee members next week, administration spokesmen said yesterday. After Reagan nominated O’Connor , 51, on Tuesday to replace Justice Potter Stewart , the nomination has been generally well re ceived but has come under attack from some con- servative groups and abortion opponents. White House spokesman David Gergen said yesterday that O’Connor was asked by the White House office of legislative affairs to visit infor• mally with the senators after seemg Reagan on Monday. Both Gergen and Justid Depart• ment spokesman Thomas DeCair said they . expect O’Connor will be asked some substantive questions by senators about her record as a judge and as former majority leader of the Arizona State Senate. but that they do not expect any full-fledged inter – rogations of her before her confir• mation hearings. Senate Majority Howard Baker said he expects O’Connor to be “easily” confirmed despite the . vocal _opposition from the ant1-abortton groups and a “new right” coalition of 21 groups. Baker said he knows of no senators opposed to her nomma• hon . An Associated Press poll of 98 senators produced 33 already commit ted to supporting O’Connor, 20 ,leading toward sup_porting her and 45 undecided. An mformal poll of the Judiciary

Arizona Republic, Newspaper mention, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

Hiring of women admittedly slow, Reagan aide says

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

WASHINGTON – President Reagan’s chief of staff conceded Thursday that the administration has been slow in appointing women and members of minorities to high-level jobs. James A. Baker also was concerned ab?ut reports of “squabbling and turf fighting on foreign policy.” But Baker, one of tl}.e top three ~ite Ho’:18e staffers said the president successfully 18 changmg the fa~ of the federal government in what he termed the start of the “Reagan Revolution.” Speaking at the National Press Club, Baker said the administration has accelerated its efforts to place women in upper-level jobs. . “To the president, the selection of fine, distinguished people like Sandra O’Connor,” the president’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, “will not be the exception, but the trademark, of this administration.” “To be sure we have had our frustrations and disappointmen’ts,” he said, pointing to the controversy over Reagan’s proposals to revise the Social Security system. “We could have done a better job in the appointments process – both in the timeliness of the appointments and in the numbe~ of women and minorities in high posts,” Baker srud. “All of us, from the president on down, wo~d have been far happier had we see_n fewer stor_1es about squabbling and turf fightmg on foreign policy.” . During a question-and-answer sess1~n, Baker was critical of suggestions that he, ~1te House counselor Edwin Meese and deputy chief of st.aff Michael K. Deaver are running the government, and that Reagan is a

Arizona Republic, Op ed, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

Jugde O’Connor is ‘untouchable’

Arizona Republic, Op ed, The Kauffman-Henry Collection / By

WASHINGTON – Everyone wants to be on hand here this week to see Arizona Appeals Court Judge Sandra O’Connor become the first woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. ‘The hearings will be thronged. The senators who will question Judge O’Connor will be on their best behavior. There is a lot riding on all this. Except for the zealots of the so-called Moral Majority, Judge O’Connor has emerged as a temporarily untouchable force. She is not your ordinary political story. In this one, the Republicans are not lined up on one side and the Democrats on the other. The idea of having a woman on the Supreme Court now seems like something we just can’t do Without. So, because of the hearings which begin here on Wednesday, the name of Sandra O’Connor will be on front pages all over the country, not just in Arizona. Wherever you went in Phoenix last week, there was talk about Judge O’Connor. Nowhere did I hear anyone speak a word against the appointment. Not once did I hear anyone question Judge O’Connor’s credentials to sit on the highest-ranking court in the nation. Some stories take on this quality. It was that way when Hank Aaron was closing in on Babe Ruth. It was the same way when Secretariat had won two legs of the Triple Crown. I heard people talking about Judge O’Connor last week in places like McDonald’s and Durant’s and Fed Mart and even in the ski lodge up in Flagstaff. The man next t.o me on the plane flying here late Monday night wanted t.o talk about her. He couldn’t believe

Houston Chronicle, Op ed

Judging O’Connor: What it was like to clerk for justice

Houston Chronicle, Op ed / By

Because she always tried to be good, she was great

In the coming days, many will no doubt tout Sandra Day O’Connor as the pioneering first female Supreme Court justice. Most will point to her importance as the pivotal middle justice on a divided court. And some will accuse her of squandering her influence by not articulating and hewing to a unified theory of the law of their liking. In all this, the pundits may well be right in the description, but many will be wrong in ascribing merit or blame. Justice O’Connor is, quite simply, a great judge.

In 1995 I and my three co-clerks to O’Connor engaged in a heated discussion over some small point of law whose importance seemed transcendental at the time. This was the mother of all debates, several days of intense silences punctuated by heated discussions. The justice knew, of course, having carried awkward luncheon conversations and having interrupted several of our closed-door shouting matches. But she let us continue without intervention. The next morning, she handed us a two-page draft opinion: concisely crafted, beautifully written and articulating a clear answer based on her writings and intimations in previous cases. Each of us saw our conflicting points considered, answered or accommodated in her elegant draft. All that was left to do was to check the spelling, fill in the citations and go on with our coffee.

That example encapsulates O’Connor’s approach to her work. Without fanfare she hones her craft, deciding individual

Arizona Republic, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

Judge O’Connor Agrees with Reagan on Abortion

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

WASHINGTON – Ending the first round of her campaign to win approval as the Supreme Court’s first woman justice, Sandra O’Connor said Friday that her views on abortion are the same as President Reagan’s.

The Arizona Court of Appeals judge met with staunch anti-abortion Sens. John East, R-N.C., and Gordon Humphrey, R-N.H., who asked her about published reports that her abortion views were comparable to Reagan’s. “She said, ‘Yes,’ ” Humphrey told reporters. But East said he was “reserving the right” to make his decision until after the confirmation hearings be- , fore the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which he is a member. The : panel is expected to take up her nomination in September. • “I did not ask her her personal .. views on abortion,” East said after a 30-minute meeting with Judge • O’Connor. Asked whether he questioned her ,. about her legal viewpoint on the 1973 Supreme Cciurt• decision giving women the right to an abortion during the first- six months of pregnancy, East replied, “No, I did ‘ not. “It’s not the litmus test,” he said of the abortion ruling. East has said he could not support , any Supreme Court nominee who r agreed with the 1973 decision, which ‘. baa become the precedent for other abortion rulings. East said Friday that a Supreme Court nominee who thought the 1973 decision was “good constitutional law” would have “grave problems” in the confirmation process. He said the abortion issue would : be “one of a host of things” that could be used to explore