Judiciary Committee Hearings

ABC, CBS and NBC plan a second day of live coverage of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the sexual harassment accusations leveled against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, but sporting events on all three networks today may impact the length of coverage. CNN, C-SPAN, KCET and KCRW-FM (89.9) will have live, gavel-to-gavel coverage of the hearings, which begin at 7 a.m. C-SPAN also plans a replay of the hearings at 5 p.m. or at their conclusion.

Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Supreme Court nominee Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg will begin July 20, meaning that she could be confirmed by the Senate before its summer recess begins on Aug. 6. This would meet the accelerated schedule urged by President Clinton, who selected the 60-year-old federal appellate judge Monday to succeed retiring Justice Byron R. White. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.

Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas picked up support on Capitol Hill as two Republican senators, Don Nickles of Oklahoma and Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico, indicated that they are prepared to vote for his confirmation. Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Thomas, now a federal appeals court judge in Washington, D.C., are to begin Sept. 10.

The ABC, NBC and CBS television networks said Thursday they will air live coverage today of the 7 a.m. PDT start of Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on sexual harassment allegations against Clarence Thomas. CNN, PBS and C-SPAN earlier said they would provide gavel-to-gavel coverage of the hearings, as did cable's new Court TV network, which serves 5 million homes. ABC said it had not decided how long it will continue its live coverage.

ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN will provide live coverage beginning at 7 this morning of the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearings on allegations of sexual harassment against U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. C-SPAN, cable television's commercial-free public affairs network, will provide live coverage after conclusion of what is expected to be a brief House session. KCET Channel 28 will air the hearings on a delayed basis beginning at 10 a.m.

Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Stephen G. Breyer's nomination to become a Supreme Court justice will begin July 12, Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) announced Thursday. That is the first Tuesday after Congress takes a weeklong recess for the July 4 holiday, and will be two months after Breyer was nominated. Assuming his confirmation process goes as smoothly as anticipated, he would be confirmed before Congress leaves for its annual August recess.

Former President Gerald R. Ford will testify Tuesday in favor of Robert H. Bork's nomination to the Supreme Court, Sen. Strom Thurmond's office announced today. Ford will appear at the opening session of the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings, according to Thurmond, the South Carolina senator who is the ranking Republican on the panel. Former Chief Justice Warren E. Burger also will testify for Bork.

The National Women's Law Center today announced its opposition to President Reagan's nomination of Robert H. Bork to the Supreme Court, calling Bork's views "a clear and present danger to the principles of equality." Marcia Greenberger, a lawyer with the Washington-based women's rights organization, said Bork, "in the most basic respects, challenges the legal rights women have gained in the 20th Century."