Los Angeles Times, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection
Conservative Role Indicated by O’Connor
WASHINGTON-Supreme Court nominee Sandra Day O’Connor served notice Thursday that she is likely to take conservative positions at the high court on important issues of criminal law. During the second day of her confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, O’Connor criticized what she called some “unfortunate” effects of the exclusionary rule-the principle that requires judges to exclude evidence from criminal trials if it has been obtained illegally by the police.
Stewart Took Liberal Approach
The nominee also reaffirmed her support as an Arizona legislator of the death penalty and of’ efforts to clamp down on the distribution of pornographic material. Retired Justice Potter Stewart, whom O’Connor is slated to replace, took a liberal approach in obscenity cases and generally resisted attempts at the high court to limit the scope of the exclusionary rule. O’Connor’s testimony suggests that her appointment may give new impetus to efforts to lift some legal constraints on law enforcement officials. By Thursday night, with her own testimony before the Judiciary Committee nearly complete, O’Connor’s confirmation seemed all but assured. Several members of the committee, including such leading conservatives as Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), assured O’Connor they will vote for her. At a time when President Reagan is scoring high in public opinion polls, and with O’Connor herself apparently a popular choice, most of the senators held back from any tough give-and-take with
Conservative Forces vow to fight against O’Connor
Sandra Day O’Connor will face painstaking scrutiny of her record as a state legislator and judge at confirmation hearings this week on her nomination as the Supreme Court’s first woman justice. Conservative forces that want President Reagan to withdraw the nomination of the Arizona appeals court judge have deluged the Senate Judiciary Committee with about 20,000 pieces of mail – mostly form letters – running 4-to-1 against her. But Senate leaders have predicted her confirmation, perhaps without dissent, because no senators are on record opposing her. This has not discouraged abortion foes, who contend that they will use the hearings as a forwn to show Reagan he “should never insult his friends again.” “No observer of this fight – and it is a fight – should judge by the final number of votes,” said Peter Gemma Jr. of the National Pro-Life Political Action Committee. O’Connor’s nomination is a “complete break of faith in light of the promises in the Republican platform,” which endorses “pro-life” judges, said Conservative Caucus head Boward Phillips . “Our duty is to keep faith with the unborn – even if we don’t get a single senator’s vote,” Phillips added. Sure to be aired at the hearings, which begin Wednesday, are data on her votes on state abortion bills-votes that are “consistenUy anti-life,” abor- . tion forces charge. . Also, the conservative groups claim O’Connor is too soft on crime, too liberal on women’s issues and has ignored conflicts of interest in voting on areas
Arizona Republic, Newspaper mention, The Kauffman-Henry Collection
Conservative Arizona lawmaker backs Judge O’Connor
Rep. Donna Carlson West, R-Mesa, an ardent opponent of the Equal Rights Amendment and a pro-life advocate, threw her support Friday behind Judge Sandra O’Connor, a U.S. Supreme Court nominee. In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker, R-Tenn., Rep . Carlson W~t laid she was deeply distressed by opposition to the Arizona Court of Appeals judge’s historic nomination. “I have known Sandra for many years, as a member of the Legislature and member of the judiciary,” Mrs: Carlson West said, “and I am convinced that there is nothing in her record in either capacity that warrants the many unfounded, untrue charges that are being raised in opposition to her nomination as the first woman justice of the Supreme Court.” She conceded that Mrs. O’Connor and two other conservative women legislators had introduced a resolution to ratify the ERA in Arizona. But many legislators and states have changed their minds on ERA since Congress passed it in 1972, Rep. Carlson West said. On the abortion issue, Judge O’Connor cast couple of votes as a legislator with which R Carlson West said she disagreed, “but I do kno that she is personally opposed to abortion.” Rep. Carlson West, immediate past chairman of the American Legislative Exchange Council. national organization of conservative legislator labeled as “untrue” allegations that Judge O’Connor is “pro-gun control, anti-religion and anti-capital punishment.”
Eastern Arizona Courier, Newspaper article, The Kauffman-Henry Collection
Confirmation hearings begin
TRI-COUNTY: Gavel to gavel coverage of the Sandra O’Connor senate confirmation hearings will be broadcast on KAET/Channel 8, Sept 9, 10 and 11 beginning at 7 p.m. KAET, the public television affiliate in Phoenix, is producing the coverage on an exclusive basis for the Arizona market and will also transmit the program via the Westar I satellite to all public television stations and their affiliated cable channels. Sandra Day O’Connor, who spent her young years on her parents Lazy B Ranch southeast of Duncan and is now a judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals, is the first woman nominated for a seat on the United States Supreme Court. This makes the upcoming telecast especially interesting for people of eastern Arizona as well as the state as a whole The nominee will questioned by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by Strom Thurmond (R, South Carolina ). Other Republican members of the committee include Paul Laxalt of Nevada, Orrin Hatch of Utah, Robert Dole of Kansas and Charles Mathias of Maryland . Democratic committee members include Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts , Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Howard Metzenbaum of Ohio and Dennis DeConcin i of Arizona. Witnesses will not question Judge O’Connor, but will read prepared statements. As of last Frid ay, the list of witnesses had not been confirmed, but it is expected that Senator Barry Goldwater would appear as a witness . While the confirmation of O’Connor appears to be a foregone conclusion, there is
Letter to the editor, Phoenix Gazette, The Kauffman-Henry Collection
Compliments O’Connor
If Judge Sandra O’Connor is confirmed by the United States Senate as the first woman on the Supreme Court, she will go down in history as one of our most esteemed pioneers. We may even find her picture on a postage stamp someday. And to hear all the babble of nit-picking that is arising makes one wonder if even the motives of heaven would be questioned and subjected to the third degree. Mrs. O’Connor is a credit to the women of America. She is an example of that rare womankind who can carry a pitcher of water on both shoulders, an excellent mother, an excellent lawyer and a compassionate and brilliant human-being who has arisen to the height.a of awesome honor. Isn’t it about time that we look at personal integrity in out officials and have faith in their judgment instead of gagging on gnat.a and swallowing elephant.a? May we have more of Sandra O’Connor and her kind! CHARLOTTE ELDRIDGE SUTTER, Phoenix
Committee votes for Judge O’Connor
WASHINGTON (UPI) – The Senate Judiciary Committee recommended unanimously today that Sandra Day O’Connor be the first woman Supreme Court justice. The vote was 17-0, with one vote of present. The full Senate is likely to consider the nomination with only nominal opposition Friday. Sen. Jeremiah Denton, R-Ala., saying he was dissatisfied that O’Connor had declined to give her “judicial view” on abortion during three days of confirmation hearings last week, cast the protest of “present.” But Denton, who questioned O’Connor at great length about abortion, said he won’t vote against her because her reluctance to answer was partly a defect in the confirmation process. “Thus, Mr. Chairman, my vote is to respond ‘present,'” Denton concluded after reading a four-page statement. Sens. John East, R-N.C., and Charles Grassley, R-lowa, voted for confirmation but joined in a statement read by East saying that they have reservations about O’Connor’s responses to abortion questions. While she found abortion “repugnant,” O’Connor refused under repeated questions to say whether her votes on the matter as a member of the highest court would reflect that personal view. East said O’Connor’s responses to other issues dear to conservatives – in favor of the death penalty and prp,ent1n’ dl’tmtion and against compulsory school busing indicated she would be a good justice. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R Utah, another conservative, issued a statement giving O’Connor unqualified support. “Judge O’Connor made it clear
Committee backs Judge O’Connor; Senate OK likely
WASHINGTON – Sandra O’Connor’s nomination as the first woman justice of the U.S. Supreme Court was approved without opposition Tuesday by tbe Senate Judiciary Committee. After the vote, Committee Chairman Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., predicted overwhelming confirmation of the judge and former Arizona state senator by the full Senate, perhaps as soon as Friday. One of the committee’s 18 members, Sen. Jeremiah Denton, R-Ala., abstained from voting because, he said, “I am far from satisfied with her answers” on abortion during three days of hearings last week. The other 17 members, nine Republicans and eight Democrats, voted for confirmation. “I appreciate his point of view,” Mrs. O’Connor said of Denton following the vote. Asked if she felt she had been given easier treatment by the committee because she is a woman, she replied, “Oh no.” But “they were very kind and very courteous,” she said. White House spokesman David Gergen said President Reagan was “delighted” with the vote and “is looking forward to a strong vote in the Senate” to confirm her nomination. The committee’s endorsement of Judge O’Connor, nominated by Reagan to replace retired Justice Potter Stewart who retired in July, had been predicted universally before and after last week’s hearings. Denton, who had questioned Judge O’Connor extensively, called his decision not to support her “one of the most difficult I have ever had to make.” Although she testified that she personally opposes abortion, Judge O’Connor repeatedly
Arizona Republic, Letter to the editor, The Kauffman-Henry Collection
Comments on O’Connor
Editor: Frances R. Haye’s letter about Judge Sandra O’Connor’s stand on abortion states that “abortion on demand is wrong, or it isn’t.” I cannot agree that the issue is so clear-cut or so simple. For instance when it is a case of a young woman taking drugs, paying no attention to good nutrition rules for pregnancy, and absolutely not wanting the baby, the chances are very slim that that baby will be normal at birth or will ever be wanted as an adoptive child. Therefore, it will most likely always have to be cared for by government institutions. Does she want that? MRS. FRANK P. WALKER Sun City
Editor: We Arizona folks are mighty proud of our “native” daughter Sandra O’Connor. She is the epitome of a lady fully capable to don the robes of the Supreme Court with dignity and honor. RUTH DEMOPLOS Phoenix Editor: The fumings of the senatorial lunatic fringe against Mrs. O’Connor’s nomination, and that of the more idiotic gang of so-called witnesses remind me of a paragraph in Robinson & Breasted’s history book which I read at high school ‘way back in 1914. The authors tell of a plumber on a visit to the Parthenon . . He was so busy criticizing the faulty drains that he missed entirely the majesty and loftiness of the architecture. SYLVANUS PETERS Sun City