Sandra Day O'Connor

Posted October 4, 2007, 11:29 pm by Growing Bolder


Sandra Day O'Connor
Born: March 26, 1930

A mother of three from Arizona, Sandra Day O'Connor is best-known as as the first female Supreme Court Justice.  Many considered her the most powerful woman in America. She was nominated to the court at the age of 51 in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan.

After the Age of Sixty

In 1990, by age 60, she was often the swing vote on the Supreme Court. A moderate conservative on an ideologically polarized court, she often cast the deciding vote in 5-4 decisions dealing with some of the most important and contentious issues of public debate.

She served on the court for 24 years before announcing her retirement at the age of 75 on July 1, 2005.

Since her retirement, she hasn't shrunk from the public's view. She has given several speeches and written newspaper columns about what she perceives as the threat to judicial independence.

In 2005, at age 75, she was named the chancellor of the College of William and Mary, replacing Henry Kissinger.
Retired Supreme Court justices are entitled to hear appeals court cases on a part-time basis, and O'Connor has occasionally sat in on proceedings.

In 2006, Arizona State University renamed its law school the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law.

Also in 2006, the 76-year-old former justice was a member of the Iraq Study Group.

She is the author of several books, including "The Majesty of the Law: Reflections of a Supreme Court Justice," her best-selling memoirs "Lazy B," which was published when she was 76, and "Chico," a children's book inspired by her childhood on an Arizona ranch.

Quotes:
"Having family responsibilities and concerns just has to make you a more understanding person."

"Young women today often have very little appreciation for the real battles that took place to get women where they are today in this country. I don't know how much history young women today know about those battles."

"Society as a whole benefits immeasurably from a climate in which all persons, regardless of race or gender, may have the opportunity to earn respect, responsibility, advancement and remuneration based on ability."

"The courts of this country should not be the places where resolution of disputes begins. They should be the places where the disputes end after alternative methods of resolving disputes have been considered and tried."


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