Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor | |
|---|---|
Official portrait, c. 2002 | |
| Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
| In office September 25, 1981 – January 31, 2006 | |
| Nominated by | Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | Potter Stewart |
| Succeeded by | Samuel Alito |
| Judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals for Division One | |
| In office December 14, 1979 – September 25, 1981 | |
| Nominated by | Bruce Babbitt |
| Preceded by | Mary Schroeder |
| Succeeded by | Sarah D. Grant |
| Judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court for Division 31 | |
| In office January 9, 1975 – December 14, 1979 | |
| Preceded by | David Perry |
| Succeeded by | Cecil Patterson |
| Member of the Arizona Senate | |
| In office January 8, 1973 – January 13, 1975 | |
| Preceded by | Howard S. Baldwin |
| Succeeded by | John Pritzlaff |
| Constituency | 24th district |
| In office January 11, 1971 – January 8, 1973 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Bess Stinson |
| Constituency | 20th district |
| In office October 30, 1969 – January 11, 1971 | |
| Preceded by | Isabel Burgess |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Constituency | 8-E district |
| 23rd Chancellor of the College of William and Mary | |
| In office October 1, 2005 – February 3, 2012 | |
| President | Gene Nichol Taylor Reveley |
| Preceded by | Henry Kissinger |
| Succeeded by | Robert Gates |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sandra Day March 26, 1930 El Paso, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | December 1, 2023 (aged 93) Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Ann Day (sister) |
| Education | Stanford University (BA, LLB) |
| Known for | First female U.S. Supreme Court justice |
| Awards | Presidential Medal of Freedom (2009) |
| Signature | |
Sandra Day O'Connor (March 26, 1930 – December 1, 2023) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. Nominated by President Ronald Reagan, O'Connor was the first woman to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court justice. A moderate conservative, she was considered a swing vote. Before O'Connor's tenure on the Court, she was an Arizona state judge and earlier an elected legislator in Arizona, serving as the first female majority leader of a state senate as the Republican leader in the Arizona Senate. Upon her nomination to the Court, O'Connor was confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate.
O'Connor usually sided with the Court's conservative bloc but on occasion sided with the Court's liberal members. She often wrote concurring opinions that sought to limit the reach of the majority holding. Her majority opinions in landmark cases include Grutter v. Bollinger and Hamdi v. Rumsfeld. In 2000, she wrote in part the per curiam majority opinion in Bush v. Gore and in 1992 was one of three co-authors of the lead opinion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey that preserved legal access to abortion in the United States. On July 1, 2005, O'Connor announced her retirement, effective upon the confirmation of a successor. At the time of her death, O'Connor was the last living member of the Burger Court. Samuel Alito was nominated to take her seat in October 2005, and joined the Supreme Court on January 31, 2006.
During her term on the Court, O'Connor was regarded as among the most powerful women in the world. After retiring, she succeeded Henry Kissinger as the chancellor of the College of William & Mary. In 2009, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.