The State - News from Oct. 26, 1987

Former California Supreme Court Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird, who lost her post last year after being targeted by conservatives because she opposed the death penalty, received the first Wayne Morse award for integrity in politics. Bird, 51, was praised by former Oregon Supreme Court Justice Betty Roberts for showing “strong character and unswerving dedication to the court” despite suffering “periods of painful public controversy.” The award is named for the former maverick Oregon senator who died in 1974. Bird told reporters at the awards ceremony in Eugene, Ore., that she sympathized with Judge Robert Bork, whose U.S. Supreme Court nomination was defeated in the Senate. “On a personal level, I feel for Judge Bork and for his family,” she said. “That’s never been a comfortable process to go through--to be placed under a microscope, to have a lot of the things you’ve written or said discussed or sometimes misinterpreted.”