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Judge O’Connor says her beliefs won’t alter rulings

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Senate committee hearing is told she personally opposes abortion WASHINGTON – Sandra Day O’Connor of Phoenix, virtually assured of becoming the first woman justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that she opposes abortion but would not let her personal views affect her ruling on any issue that comes before the high court. Judge O’Connor also said in her first day of testimony before the 18-member committee that she believes in “judicial restraint” and views the role of the Supreme Court as one of interpreting the law rather than of legislating. After Judge O’Connor concluded more than three hours of testimony, Committee Chairman Strom Thurmond, RS.C., predicted that the former Arizona state senator will be endorsed by the committee and confirmed by the full Senate next week. “I don’t see any problem with her confirmation,” he said. “I thought she made an excellent witness. She impressed me as being bright, alert, dedicated and possessed of a fine analytical mind.” Questioning of Judge O’Connor resumes this morning. The hearing on her nomination is scheduled to end Friday. – Thurmond, a conservative Southerner, began the questioning by focusing immediately on the only issue that has stirred any meaningful opposition to her appointment – her voting record on abortion-related issues as a state senator from 1969 to 1975. When asked by Thurmond her opinion on abortion, Judge O’Connor prefaced her answer by saying, “The – personal views and

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Judge O’Connor Reportedly Selects ASU Grad As Clerk

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WASHINGTON – With Senate confirmation virtually certain but still a few days away, Sandra Day O’Connor already has begun to assume the role of the first woman U.S. Supreme Court justice. The Arizona Appeals Court Judge has reportedly picked one of her four law clerks. The Senate is expected to confirm Judge O’Connor Tuesday, and the swearing in will be held Sept. 25. Despite a constant ordeal of judicial preparation and hearings since President Reagan announced her nomination ,July 7, ,Judge O’Connor has apparently taken time to chose a woman Arizona State University law school graduate to work as her law clerk. “It (the law clerk) is a woman,” assistant U.S. attorney general Bob McConnell told The Phoenix Gazette Friday. “She’s an Arizona State University law school graduate from a few years back who has been practicing law.” JUDGE O’CONNOR, secluded in a Washington apartment arranged by departing Justice Potter Stewart, was not available Friday to identify her choice of a law clerk. Barrett McGurn , press officer for the Supreme Court, also could not name the woman. But , he said, the job is one of the most prestigious for a young lawyer, and many are contending. “It puts them on the fast track,” he said. “They go on to become Cabinet members and some return as justices.” In Phoenix, a spokeswoman at the law firm of Fennemore, Craig, von Ammon & Udall, said Ruth V. McGregor left those offices last week to take the law clerk position with Judge O’Connor. A call to the McGregor

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Judge O’Connor opposes busing as disruptive to pupils

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WASHINGTON – Judge Sandra O’Connor of Phoenix, on the verge of becoming the first woman justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday that busing of children to achieve racial balance in schools disrupts their education. Judge O’Connor, in her second day of testimony before the 18-member committee, also said she supports the death penalty and feels women in the military should not be assigned to battlefield duty. The committee’s hearings on President Reagan’s nomination of Judge O’Connor to the high court are expected to conclude today. Committee Chairman Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., has predicted her swift, overwhelming confirmation by his panel and by the full Senate.

The judge and former Arizona state senator has testified for more than eight hours before the committee. She is expected to return briefly today for further questioning by Sen .Jeremiah Denton, R-Ala., who was unable to attend Thursday’s afternoon session.

Throughout the hearing, Judge O’Connor has side-stepped attempts by senators to elicit comments on various Supreme Court rulings, notably the 1973 decision upholding the right of women to seek elective abortions.

She did, however, express her “personal views” on a number of issues, couching her answers each time by saying she would not let her private opinions influence her deliberations on cases before the high court.

In response to questions from Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, she said busing of schoolchildren, ordered by

Arizona Republic, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

Judge O’Connor, officials meet at White House

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WASHINGTON – Judge Sandra O’Connor went directly to the White House on Monday after arriving in Washington for a series of crucial meetings on her nomination to become the first woman on the Supreme Court. Judge O’Connor was met at Washington National Airport by Attorney General William French Smith and driven to the White House. A spokesman called the Monday gathering a “preliminary, get-to-know-you” session. It involved Smith and members of the president’s congressional liaison staff. She was to begin a round of meetings with Justice Department officials and key members of the Senate this morning and will meet with the president Wednesday. Judge O’Connor, a member of the Arizona Court of Appeals, has been attacked for her record on abortion and for support of the Equal Rights Amendment. But Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz. – her leading backer – issued a statement Monday that lauded the 51- year-old judge for having the “basic conservative philosophy” needed on the high court. Judge O’Connor told reporters at the airport that she hopes to end the controversy surrounding her selection. As she has in the past, the judge declined to discuss the substance I of questions raised about her nomination. White House spokesman Larry Speakes said that after the morning meeting today, Judge O’Connor will go to Capitol Hill to confer with her home-state senators – Goldwater and Democrat Dennis DeConcini. In his statement Monday, Goldwater said she is tough on criminals, a strong defender of

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Judge O’Connor Makes Courtesy Call on Capitol

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Sandra Day O’Connor sat down between Senators Howard H. Baker Jr. and Robert C. Byrd this afternoon and immediately scored a political point.

“Senator Byrd,” Judge O’Connor said, addressing the minority leader, a man who considers himself an authority on the Senate, “tell me a little about the history of this great institution.”

Senator Baker, the majority leader, broke into laughter, saying, “Judge, you don’t know what you’ve just asked!” Senator Byrd just smiled. Then he congratulated Judge O’Connor, not on her nomination to the Supreme Court but on her confirmation by the Senate, “which I feel will be forthcoming.”

The Courtesy Ritual

In her first afternoon on Capitol Hill, Judge O’Connor, who if confirmed would be the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court, proved herself particularly adept at a peculiar Washington ritual: the courtesy call.

This is the custom that requires nominees of the executive and judicial branches to travel to Capitol Hill to woo members of the legislative branch, particularly those who sit on pertinent committees. It is a time for smiles and handshakes, not for substantive discussions.

“It’s going just fine, thank you,” Judge O’Connor, of the Arizona Court of Appeals, said as she breezed down a Capitol hallway this afternoon, her heels clicking on the marble floor. On her right was William French Smith, the Attorney General. On her left was Senator Baker.

Also accompanied by a mob of photographers and reporters, Judge O’Connor visited, among

Arizona Republic, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection

Judge O’Connor leaves ‘stuffy’ image at office

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Public glimpses fail to capture traits nominee shows in private contacted me about arrangements for her golf lessons, and I’m not planning on moving to Washington. She’ll probably have the best handicap on the court.” committal smile is known only to her circle of friends and her family. Supporters speak of her integrity, intelle ct, energy and capacity for hard work. By Chuck Hawley Republic Staff Steve Dunning may be the only person in the United States who doesn’t believe Arizona Court of Appeals Judge Sandra O’Connor will accept her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. Dunning, a former assistant golf pro at Paradise Valley Country Club, has tutored the judge’s golf game for two years. His tongue-in-cheek comment was one of many insights on the first woman nominated to the Supreme Court . Even negative comments seem to have an element of grudging praise – demanding, intense, aloof, severe. . “I don’t care what t&e press says,” Dunning said. “I won’t believe she’s going to accept the nomination until I hear from her. She has not Despite the intensity of official and press scrutiny, the person behind that pleasant but nonBy now, her childhood, schooling, career, marriage, political positions and voting record are matters of record – a record compiled and then scrutinized by White House staff, the FBI, proponents, opponents and reporters. Time and Newsweek have devoted a total of 14 pages to the story. In Arizona. it’s become a classic tale of “local girl makes good.” The thousands

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Judge O’Connor is assailed again by conservatives

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Republic Wire Services W ASIDNGTON – Conservative groups intensified their attack on Supreme Court nominee Sandra O’Connor on Thursday despite Republican predictions of victory and Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., telling them to “back off.” Goldwater, Judge O’Connor’s leading supporter, declared in a Senate speech that “a lot of foolish claptrap” has been circulated about her positions OD issues. Though supporters of Judge O’Connor tried to shield her from criticism on the volatile abortion issue, a conservative coalition suggested that a cover-up of sorts may have colored the decision to pick her as the first woman on the high court. The coalition said that because of an “apparent cover-up,” the president did not find out about what it contends was Judge O’Connor’s vote in favor of abortions on demand and her support of the Equal Rights Amendment during her term as an Arizona state senator. The group claimed that a Justice Department memo by Kenneth Starr, counselor to Attomey General William French Smith, who led the search for a new Supreme Court justice, failed to acknowledge Judge O’Connor’s voting record. President Reagan is said to have relied heavily on that memo in choosing Judge O’Connor to succeed retired Justice Potter Stewart. “The information we have on her abortion record, when compared with the memorandum … shows an apparent prima facie cover-up, either on the part of Mrs. O’Connor or on the part of the attorney general’s office, or both .. !’ charged Kathleen

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Judge O’Connor has Peninsula background

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Praise for Judge Sandra Day O’Connor’s keen analytical mind and legal ability came today from her friends at Stanford University, where she received her L.L.B. in 1952, and from Keith Sorenson, San Mateo County district attorney, who was her first boss. “She’s got a steel-trap mind, she’s ‘cool hand Luke’ and never gets rattled,” said Dean Charles Meyers of the Stanford Law School. “Whenever she spoke, we all listened,” said William Kimball, chairman of the Stanford Board of Trustees . “She is a super person. O’Connor. 51, nominated today to become the first woman justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, was a Stanford trustee from 1976 to 1980. She graduated number three in the Stanford law class that was headed academically by current Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist. O’Connor was among the friends invited by Rehnquist to his swearing in ceremony after he was named to the Supreme Court. O’Connor worked during 1953 and 1954 for Sorenson while her husband, John, now a Phoenix lawyer, was completing his law degree at Stanford. Her duties consisted mainly of researching legal issues. Sorenson said today, “She was exceptionally bright, very quick at catching on to questions to be researched, and she analyzed the law very carefully. “I was very sorry to see her leave the office when she and her husband moved out of the state. I’ve kept track of her over the years through mutual friends, an Dean Meyers predicted less than three weeks ago that O’Connor would be seriously considered

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Judge O’Connor Exhibits Restraint Under Fire by Senators

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WASHINGTON – During her first public questioning by senators who must pass judgment on her, Sandra Day” O’Connor alternately displayed the qualities of a cautious lawyer, an evasive politician and a learned legal scholar. The approach she took in fending off .questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday may not have total ly satisfied those concerned about her views. Regardless, the relative ease with w~i’h she handled the committee members’ queries seemed to move the Arizona appeals court judge closer to becoming the Supreme Court’s first woman justice. ON THE OPENING day of her confirmation hearings, Judge O’Connor seemed to receive high marks, score legal points and receive support from those judging her qualifications to replace Justice Potter Stewart, who stepped down from the court two months ago. With the only overt opposition to her nomination directed at her stands on abortion and other social issues, she took the offensive – declaring in her opening statement she would not detail her views on specific issues that might later come before the high court. “To do so would mean I have prejudged the matter or have morally committed myself to a certain position,” she said. That position may not have pleased abortion foes, but she held to it during an afternoon of questioning by a dozen senators. Only after persistent questioning did : she say she found abortion abhorrent and never would have one herself. SEN. JOHN EAST , R-N.C., attempted to assure Judge O’Connor