Jurist, the first female justice of the US Supreme Court, born in El Paso, Texas, USA. She studied law and was admitted to the bar in California, but then took up practice in Arizona, where she became assistant attorney-general (19659) and then a state senator. She was a Superior Court judge of Maricopa Co (19749) and a judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals (197981) before President Reagan named her as the first woman justice of the US Supreme Court in 1981. She retired in 2005.
Sandra Day O'Connor|
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Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Term in office |
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| September 25, 1981 – January 31, 2006 | |
| Preceded by | Potter Stewart |
| Succeeded by | Samuel Alito |
| Nominated by | Ronald Reagan |
| Born |
March 26, 1930 El Paso, Texas |
Sandra Day O'Connor (born March 26, 1930) is an American jurist who served as the first female Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006.
Prior to joining the Supreme Court, she was a politician and jurist in Arizona. O'Connor is currently the only Retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
Personal life and education
O'Connor was born Sandra Day, in El Paso, Texas to Henry Alfred Day (a rancher) and Ada Mae Wilkey, of English ethnicity.
O'Connor attended Stanford University, where she received her B.A.
Early career
In spite of her accomplishments at law school, no law firm in California was willing to hire her as a lawyer, although one firm did offer her a position as a legal secretary.
In 1975, she was elected judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court and served until 1979, when she was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals by Democratic governor Bruce Babbitt.
Supreme Court career
Appointment
On August 19, 1981, President Reagan, who had pledged during the 1980 presidential campaign to appoint the first woman to the Supreme Court, nominated her as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, replacing the retiring Potter Stewart. In her first year on the Court, O'Connor received over sixty thousand letters from the public, more than any other justice in history. O'Connor was unprepared for the scrutiny that came with being the first woman on the Court, and was relieved when Ruth Bader Ginsburg joined her in 1993.
The same year O'Connor rose to national prominence, the film First Monday in October—which focused on a conservative justice (Jill Clayburgh) being the first female appointed to the Supreme Court—was released.
Presence on the Court
In 1985, at a Washington Press Club dinner, an intoxicated Washington Redskins player (John Riggins) drew widespread scorn when he told O'Connor: "Come on, Sandy Baby, loosen up.
In 1989, a letter O'Connor wrote regarding three Court rulings on Christian heritage was used by a group of conservative Arizona Republicans in their claim that America was a "Christian nation".
Retirement
Justice O'Connor was successfully treated for breast cancer in 1988 (she also had her appendix removed that year).
On December 12, 2000, the Wall Street Journal reported O'Connor was reluctant to retire with a Democrat in office:
By 2005, the membership of the Supreme Court had been static for eleven years, the second longest period without a change in the Court's composition in American history. to succeed Justice O'Connor, answering months of speculation as to Bush Supreme Court candidates.
On July 21, O'Connor spoke to a 9th U.S. Circuit conference and blamed the televising of Senate Judiciary Committee hearings for escalated conflicts over judges.
O'Connor had expected to leave the high court before the start of the next term on October 3, 2005. Two days later, President Bush withdrew Roberts as his nominee for O'Connor's seat and instead appointed him to fill the vacant office of Chief Justice. O'Connor agreed to stay on the court until her replacement was confirmed.
O'Connor has stated that after leaving the high court, she plans to travel, spend time with family, and, due to her fear of the attacks on judges by legislators, will work with the American Bar Association on a commission to help explain the separation of powers and the role of judges.
Current activities and memberships
Speeches on independent judiciary
On March 9, 2006, during a speech at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., O'Connor said some political attacks on the independence of the courts pose a direct threat to the constitutional freedoms of Americans.
On September 19, 2006, Justice O'Connor echoed her concerns for an independent judiciary during the Dedication Address at the Elon University School of Law.
On September 27, 2006, Justice O'Connor published an op-ed in Wall Street Journal titled "The Threat to Judicial Independence", in which she decried recent efforts to curtail the independence of the judiciary (such as South Dakota's J.A.I.L. The next day, Justice O'Connor co-hosted and spoke at a conference at Georgetown University Law Center titled "Fair and Independent Courts: A Conference on the State of the Judiciary."
College of William and Mary
On October 4, 2005, President Gene Nichol of the College of William and Mary announced that O'Connor had accepted the largely ceremonial role of becoming the 23rd Chancellor of the College, replacing Henry Kissinger, and following in the position held by Margaret Thatcher, Chief Justice Warren Burger, and President George Washington.
Jamestown 2007
In February, 2006, it was announced that the retired Justice will chair the Jamestown 2007 celebration at Jamestown, Virginia which commemorates the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown Settlement in 1607.
Retirement and service on United States Courts of Appeals
In October 2006, Justice O'Connor sat as a member of panels of the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits, to hear arguments in one day's cases in each court.
As a Retired Supreme Court Justice (roughly equivalent to senior status for judges of lower federal courts), Justice O'Connor is entitled to receive a full salary, maintain a staffed office with at least one law clerk, and to hear cases on a part-time basis in the federal District Courts and Courts of Appeals.
Iraq Study Group
Justice O'Connor is a member of the Iraq Study Group of the United States Institute of Peace.
Other facts and information
O'Connor is an avid golfer who scored a hole-in-one in 2000 at the Paradise Valley Country Club in Arizona.
In 2002, O'Connor was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame.
On September 8, 2004, Redwood City, California dedicated the courtroom of the renovated historical courthouse (now a museum) to O'Connor.
On October 18, 2005, Justice O'Connor was appointed Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses.
On April 5, 2006, Arizona State University's College of Law was renamed the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law in her honor.
On May 14, 2006, Justice O'Connor was the commencement speaker at William and Mary Law School, where she is also university chancellor.
On May 22, 2006, Yale University granted Justice O'Connor an honorary doctoral degree at Yale's 305th commencement.
On September 19, 2006, Justice O'Connor delivered the Dedication Address for the Elon University School of Law and accept an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree.
In 1990, Justice O'Connor was present, along with Warren Burger at the dedication of the Warren Burger Law Library at Burger's alma mater, William Mitchell College of Law.
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