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"They have turned securities law upside down. They have greatly clarified the law of private rights of action—who can sue whom. They have done wonders at rationalizing the law on double jeopardy."
Easterbrook, however, is less happy with court rulings on Fourth Amendment questions dealing with search and seizure:
"They're all over the lot. They haven't the foggiest notion of what they're doing."
In presenting Sandra O'Connor to the press, Reagan described his right to nominate Supreme Court Justices as the presidency's "most awesome appointment" power. True enough, and chances are that he will have the opportunity to exercise that power again. Whether or not Reagan is able to shape "his" court is as problematical as it was for most of his predecessors. What is important is that he had the imagination and good sense to break down a useless discriminatory barrier by naming a woman to the nation's Supreme Court—at last. America waits to see what place in legal history will be carved out by this daunting daughter of Arizona pioneers. —By EdMagnuson. Reported by Joseph J. Kane/Phoenix and Evan Thomas/Washington