El Paso Herald-Post, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection
El Pasoan Wins Court Nod: She Would Serve as First Woman
WASHINGTON (UPI) – President Reagan said today he plans to nominate Arizona Judge Sandra O’Connor – “a person for all seasons” – to become the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Reagan’s historic selection would end a 191-year, male-only tradition on the nation’s highest court if Mrs. O’Connor, 51, is approved by the Senate to replace Justice Potter Stewart, who retired last week. JUDGE O’Conor is “truly a person for all seasons, possessing those unique qualities of temperament, fairness, intellectual capacity and devotion to the public good,” the president said, making the announcement in the White House press briefing room. “I am extremely happy and honored to have been nominated,” Mrs. O’Connor said in a statement. “If confirmed, I will do my best to serve the court and this nation in a manner that will bring credit to the president, to lfi1 ~ n’ir.i BflJ !”ll the people of this great nation.” At a news conference in Phoenix, Mrs. O’Connor said Reagan telephoned her Monday afternoon and told her she was his choice. She repeatedly refused to discuss abortion, equal rights for women or any other “substantive questions pending the confirmation hearings.” MRS. O’CONNOR, beaming happily, kissed her husband and three sons and told reporters who questioned her lack of federal judicial experience: “Time will tell whether I have a lot to learn.” Asked to describe her feelings on being the first women appointed, she said: “I don’t know that I can. In approaching the work on
El Paso Herald-Post, Op ed
El Pasoan wins court nod: Judge’s El Paso family thrilled.
“Excitement is the only word that explains how I feel,” said Mrs. John Kipp, of El Paso, cousin of Judge Sandra Day O’Connor. Judge O’Connor, . a native of El Paso, was recommended today for the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy by President Ronald Reagan. “IT’S WONDERFUL and I am so happy for Sandra,” Mrs. Kipp said. “It’s a Mrs. John Kipp milestone in history!” Mrs. Kipp and her father, Scott Wilkie, president of PB&S Inc., El Paso, have been tuned anxiously to the news for the past week. Judge O’Connor was born here, attended Radford School for Girls and was graduated from Austin High School. “I haven’t seen Sandra in some time,” Mrs. Kipp said. “She and her husband do quite a bit of traveling. They both took up skiing when he was stationed in Germany as a member of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. They go to various ski areas during the winter – Colorado California, Utah. ‘ “They also like to get up early in the morning and play tennis. “The O’Connors have three sons: Scott Hampton (named after my father), Brian, a student at Colorado College in Colorado and John Jay who is entering Stanford this fall. Scott is 23 and was graduated from Stanford last year with a degree in business administration. John Jay is involved in sky diving and I think Brian is too.” IN SPITE OF Judge O’Connor’s enjoyment of skiing, tennis and riding horseback, Mrs. Kipp said the judge really isn’t athletically inclined. “She likes water coloring,” Mrs. Kipp said. “I was closer to her sister, Mrs. Scott
Drive against O’Connor, Conservatives find little support
WASHINGTON (AP) – Conservative groups trying to mount a political offensive against Sandra D. O’Connor’s nomination to the Supreme Court are finding a fight and seeing no support in a Senate inclined to confirm her. At a Capitol Hill news conference backed by 21 conservative and anti-abortion organizations, a spokesman said Thursday that the Reagan administration may have “covered up” information about O’Connor’s alleged pro-abortion stance. They claimed that as a member of the Arizona Senate in 1970 she co-sponsored and voted in committee for a measure that would have legalized abortion on demand. The bill never was enacted. Within hours of the news conference, conservative Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., took to the Senate floor to denounce criticism of the Arizona appeals court judge as “a lot of foolish claptrap.” Later, Goldwater stepped up his counterattack by accusing the Moral Majority and the National Right to Life Conunittee, two groups in the forefront of the battle against the nomination, of “taking more of a fascist line than a conservative line.” Howard Phillips, spokesman lor the groups and head of the Conservative Caucus, told reporters that the O’Connor non_lination was a “major blow” to the conservative bloc that helped elect Reagan last fall. “It can be expected that the O’Connor nomination could diminish the prospects for Republican gains in the House and Senate irl 1982,” he added. Phillips noted that several senators have expressed a desire not to be “railroaded”
Cottonwood, Daily Independent, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection
Direct Mail giant fights O’Connor
WASHINGTON (AP) – Conservative Richard Viguerie says his direct-mail organization is working nearly “around the clock” to block Sandra D. O’Connor’s nomination as a Supreme Court justice . But with Senate confirmation hearings scheduled to start Sept. 8, Viguerie hints that it’s the principle – not necessarily a victory – that counts. “The only way we’re going to lose this is if we fail to fight the fight,” Viguerie said Wednesday. The White House would view the conservatives as “paper tigers” if they did not mount their opposition, he said, adding, “It’s a battle that has to be waged.” Senate leaders from both parties have predicted the 51-year-old Arizona appeals court judge will win easy confirmation, despite conservatives’ claims that she supports abortion and the Equal Rights Amendment. Viguerie refused to predict whether the coalition’s efforts would succeed. He said the fight against the nomination would be aimed at reminding President Reagan of the conservative coalition that helped elect him last fall. He charged that the White House staff has not been considering the grass -roots support that Reagan received – particularly when it came to the Supreme Court nomination. “We are working around the clock, almost, to generate support,” for the opposition to Mrs. O’Connor, Viguerie said. “These senators have to be shown there is grass -roots support.” “We’re going to have some big events before the nomination takes place,” he said, adding that the opposition to Mrs. O’Connor
Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection, Yuma Daily Sun
Despite O’Connor Choice
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Reagan has named a woman to the Supreme Court and has promised to campaign from the White House against state laws that discriminate against wommmen. Still, though, hrs political problem with women voters hasn ‘t been solved. It showed up on Election Day, and it is still there. Reagan fulfilled a campaign promise wher, he decided to nominate Arizona Appeals Court judge Sandra D. O’Connor to the Supreme Court. Now he is fulfilling another, with a drive for repeal of discriminat:ory state laws. He has appointed an aide, Judy Peachee, to work on that project and has written governors asking their help “to identify and correct state laws and regulations which discriminate on the basis of sex.” As campaigner and as president, Reagan has firmly opposed ratification of the Equal Rightti Amendment. His campaign pledges on the court appointment and the drive to erase discriminatory laws were offered aa. antidotes to criticism stemming from his position against the ERA. But on Eleeiion Day~ Reagan won overwhehning- ly among male vot.ers, narrowly among females. The difference of opinion persists. The polls show that men still are mere im.pres.ted than women with Reagan’s pert’o~ ae preeident; although the majority is favorable in both caees Women – and men – strong backing for the nomination of Mrs. O’Connor. But, aa they have for month,, women hold a generally lower opini(m of Reapri, troat him _…_, give him a lower job rating and feel he is less compassionate
Mesa Tribune, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection
Day One: Friends and foes turn out
WASHINGTON – The earnest young man from Terry, Miss. with the wispy beard and the Instamatic camera waited about 2½ hours in line to walk through the airport-type security arch and see the woman who would, in his opinion, usurp his right to freedom of religion and allow peimissive abortions. David Harris, a freshman from Shelton College, a fundamentalist Christian school in New Jersey, had boarded one of two buses for the trip. When Arizona Appellate Judge Sandra Day O’Connor began her opening statement before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning about 75 of Harris’ cohorts were marclililg in front of the. building, passing out “No to O” buttons and waving massproduced “Reject O’Connor” placards. About half were anti-abortion advocates; the rest complained O’Connor was anti-religion because s~e has opposed tax-exempt status for religi.>us schools. It was an all-white crowd, many of them young students with short hair and freshscrubbed faces. But it was a surprisingly meager gathering . considering how vehemently abortion foes had rallied against O’Connor. By the time senators had begwi questioning her, most of the protesters were inside the hearing room leaning quietly against the back wall, waiting in line or milling about the Senate building. By the afternoon session, most placards were stacked neatly on the steps, only a handful of the true believers. remaining outside in the hwnid Washington weather. “I’m not surprised that (the anti abortion crowd) is that