![]() ![]() The hearings opened with most members of the committee making clear they were inclined to confirm her, eliminating any suspense about whether she would join the court. 9, 1981, the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned O'Connor, heard from Arizonans who mostly raved about her work at the state Legislature and also considered some dissenters, many of whom were troubled that she seemed tolerant of abortion rights. Over three days in Washington, beginning Sept. Reagan "airily dismissed" them as the view of a "fanatic." Jesse Helms, R-N.C., who was concerned about O'Connor's position on abortion as outlined by her Arizona critics. In his O'Connor biography, "First," author Evan Thomas noted a meeting Reagan held with U.S. But polling found the public overwhelmingly welcomed a woman to the Supreme Court and specifically considered O'Connor qualified.īehind the scenes, Reagan helped dissipate concerns about his nominee's conservative credentials. O'Connor, a former state lawmaker who had begun working as a judge only seven years before, had no experience in the federal courts at the time. In a move that surprised many in legal circles, he selected O'Connor, who was then a 51-year-old judge on Arizona's Court of Appeals. In July 1981, President Ronald Reagan made good on a campaign promise the year before that he would appoint a woman to the Supreme Court. "Even when she was nominated, she was essentially an anachronism," Hirshman said. If O'Connor raised awareness of the court, her gender and centrist conservatism papered over the growing partisan divide over women's rights and abortion rights, said Linda Hirshman, author of "Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World." ![]() "It's opened up the process to more scrutiny, and more people have more access to this process now. ![]() Ringhand said the TV coverage that began with O'Connor and continued afterward helped lengthen the confirmation process by drawing in more interest from senators. Had she not been the first female nominee, it's not clear that would have happened at that time." "There was a high amount of interest in her confirmation," said Lori Ringhand, a law professor at the University of Georgia and co-author of the book "Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings and Constitutional Change." "That really awakened an awareness that this really was a public event. There is, it seems, more to remember about O'Connor's confirmation than the 99-0 vote that put her on the court might suggest. ![]()
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