Kennedy Wins Confirmation in Senate, 97-0

In a unanimous vote marked by praise from conservatives and liberals alike, the Senate Wednesday confirmed Judge Anthony M. Kennedy to fill the vacant seat on the Supreme Court.

The 97-0 vote for Kennedy, President Reagan’s third choice for the post, ended the President’s long, contentious struggle to win approval of a nominee and removed the court’s problem of 4-4 tie votes on crucial cases. Hampered by the 7-month-old vacancy, the high court has shown reluctance to rule on some major cases.

At 51, Kennedy will be the youngest justice when he joins the court later this month. He and two other conservatives appointed by Reagan together represent the potential for many years of conservative rulings, a prospect that disturbs many social activists.

Could Play Pivotal Role

Kennedy is expected to play a pivotal role, as did his predecessor, Lewis F. Powell Jr., in rulings on divisive issues such as abortion and affirmative action.

The full Senate vote followed a unanimous recommendation by the Senate Judiciary Committee that Kennedy’s nomination be approved. Kennedy’s fate contrasted sharply with that of Reagan’s first two nominees for the court. Robert H. Bork was rejected in October amid bitter opposition from civil rights activists that his view of the Constitution was too narrow.

Douglas H. Ginsburg withdrew in November after disclosures that he had smoked marijuana while a Harvard law professor.

In a statement, Reagan said he was “extremely pleased” by the Senate action and predicted that Kennedy “will make an outstand ing addition to the Supreme Court.” He declared that the Senate has “reaffirmed this country’s commitment to the philosophy of judicial restraint.”

Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III said in a statement that Kennedy will “protect the individual rights guaranteed by our Constitution and follow the fundamental principles of federalism and separation of powers.”

A 12-year member of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Kennedy said at a news conference in his native Sacramento that he could “conceive of no greater honor for an attorney or a judge than to devote a career to preserving our constitutional heritage.”

Will Break Logjam of Cases

He will be sworn in Feb. 18, four days before the court resumes its session. C. Thomas Dienes, a law professor at the George Washington University National Law Center, said Kennedy’s addition “will break the logjam” of cases facing the high court.

Since Powell’s retirement last summer, the court has split 4 to 4 on several cases and delayed ruling on several others. One tie centered on the sensitive issue of whether a teen-ager should be able to get an abortion without telling her parents. Another dealt with whether the State Department may deny visas to foreign political activists seeking to visit the United States.

The smooth confirmation of Kennedy, considered a conservative moderate, was due largely to his success during hearings at portraying himself as open-minded. He gave little indication of which way he would lean on key issues.

He continued that tack Wednesday during his news conference, refusing to discuss the abortion issue, saying the “law is in a state of evolution there.”

In the Senate, the floor debate on his nomination became a series of testimonials.

Man of ‘Integrity’

Liberal Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) praised him as a man of “integrity, intelligence, courage and craftsmanship,” with a “judicial philosophy that places him within the mainstream of constitutional interpretation.”

Conservative Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) called Kennedy “one of the most eminently qualified individuals to be nominated” to the high court.

Nevertheless, Judge Kennedy had his critics.

Molly Yard, president of the National Organization for Women, cited as objectionable Kennedy’s former membership in private clubs that refused to accept minorities and women and his 1985 ruling against a group of women employees in Washington state seeking higher salaries on the basis of “comparable worth” with men workers.

Yard accused the Judiciary Committee of failing to scrutinize Kennedy closely and said she was concerned that he will be “a fifth vote to undo the last 20 years of civil rights gains.”

‘One of Nine Members’

At his news conference, Kennedy was asked about the burden of being a potential tie-breaker on controversial votes. He replied pointedly: “I think of myself as one of nine members on the court, not as a fifth member.”

Reagan’s other two appointees are Sandra Day O’Connor and Antonin Scalia. They, along with Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justice Byron R. White, usually vote along conservative lines. The four justices who usually take a more liberal view are William J. Brennan Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Harry A. Blackmun and John Paul Stevens.

Staff writer Alan C. Miller in Sacramento contributed to this story.