55-530: 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
110-476: A 1983 opinion upholding searches by drug-sniffing dogs, she recognized that a search is most likely to be considered constitutionally reasonable if it is very effective at discovering contraband without revealing innocent but embarrassing information." Washington College of Law professor Andrew Taslitz, referencing O'Connor's dissent in a 2001 case , said of her Fourth Amendment jurisprudence: "O'Connor recognizes that needless humiliation of an individual
165-475: A B.A. in economics in 1950. She continued at Stanford Law School for her law degree in 1952. There, she served on the Stanford Law Review whose then presiding editor-in-chief was future Supreme Court chief justice William Rehnquist . Day and Rehnquist also dated in 1950. The relationship ended upon Rehnquist's graduation and move to Washington, D.C.; however, in 1951, he proposed marriage in
220-515: A Rehnquist opinion, following an earlier precedent from an opinion she authored in 1993, in which the Court struck down an electoral districting plan designed to facilitate the election of two Black representatives out of 12 from North Carolina, a state that had not had any Black representative since Reconstruction , despite being approximately 20% Black – the Court held that the districts were unacceptably gerrymandered and O'Connor called
275-444: A bill to repeal the state's criminal-abortion statute. In 1974, O'Connor had opined against a measure to prohibit abortions in some Arizona hospitals. Anti-abortion and religious groups opposed O'Connor's nomination because they suspected, correctly, she would not be willing to overturn Roe v. Wade . U.S. Senate Republicans, including Don Nickles of Oklahoma , Steve Symms of Idaho , and Jesse Helms of North Carolina called
330-502: A graduation ceremony as part of a religious act that coerced people to support or participate in religion, which the Establishment Clause strictly prohibits. This is consistent with a similar case, Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe , involving prayer at a school football game. In this case, O'Connor joined the majority opinion that stated prayer at school football games violates the Establishment Clause. O'Connor
385-611: A letter, but Day did not accept the proposal (which was one of four she received while a student at Stanford). Day achieved the Order of the Coif , indicating she was in the top 10 percent of her class. While in her final year at Stanford Law School, Day began dating John Jay O'Connor III , who was one class year behind her. On December 20, 1952, six months after her graduation, O'Connor and Day married at her family's ranch. Upon graduation from law school in 1952, O'Connor had difficulty finding
440-534: A paying job as an attorney in a law firm because of her gender. O'Connor found employment as a deputy county attorney in San Mateo, California , after she offered to work for no salary and without an office, sharing space with a secretary. After a few months, she began drawing a small salary as she performed legal research and wrote memos. She worked with San Mateo County District Attorney Louis Dematteis and deputy district attorney Keith Sorensen. When her husband
495-462: A white police officer, despite statistical evidence that Black defendants were more likely to receive the death penalty than others both in Georgia and in the U.S. as a whole. In the 1990 and 1995 Missouri v. Jenkins rulings, O'Connor voted with the majority that Federal district courts had no authority to require the state of Missouri to increase school funding to counteract racial inequality. In
550-401: Is an important factor in determining Fourth Amendment reasonableness." O'Connor once quoted the social contract theory of John Locke as influencing her views on the reasonableness and constitutionality of government action. In McCleskey v. Kemp (1987), O'Connor joined a 5–4 majority that voted to uphold the death penalty for an African American man, Warren McCleskey, convicted of killing
605-557: The Library of Congress , that in the spring of 1952, Rehnquist wrote a letter to O'Connor asking her to marry him. O'Connor turned down Rehnquist's proposal because she was then dating her future husband, John O'Connor. The two had publicly stated that they dated for a short time during law school but Rehnquist's marriage proposal to O'Connor had been kept a secret. The two served on the Supreme Court together from 1981 until Rehnquist's death in 2005. This article relating to law in
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#1732779608047660-581: The Senate Judiciary Committee began on September 9, 1981. It was the first televised confirmation hearing for a Supreme Court justice. The confirmation hearing lasted three days and largely focused on the issue of abortion. When asked, O'Connor refused to telegraph her views on abortion, and she was careful not to leave the impression that she supported abortion rights . The Judiciary Committee approved O'Connor with seventeen votes in favor and one vote of present. On September 21, O'Connor
715-541: The Stanford Law Review Online . The Stanford Law Review selects members based on a competitive exercise that tests candidates on their editing skills and legal writing ability. There is not a firm number of accepted candidates each year; recent classes of new editors have ranged from about 40 to 45. The candidate exercise is distributed to candidates late in their first year at the law school. Transfer students are also eligible for admission through
770-537: The White House to express their discontent over the nomination; Nickles said he and "other profamily Republican senators would not support O'Connor". Helms, Nickles, and Symms nevertheless reluctantly voted for confirmation. Reagan formally nominated O'Connor on August 19, 1981. Conservative activists such as the Reverend Jerry Falwell , Howard Phillips , and Peter Gemma also spoke out against
825-527: The president to nominate, and with the advice and consent (confirmation) of the Senate , appoint justices to the Supreme Court. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution effectively grants life tenure to associate justices, and all other federal judges , which ends only when a justice dies, retires, resigns, or is impeached and convicted . Each Supreme Court justice has a single vote in deciding
880-503: The swing vote on the Court. However, she usually disappointed the Court's more liberal bloc in contentious 5–4 decisions: from 1994 to 2004, she joined the traditional conservative bloc of Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia , Anthony Kennedy , and Thomas 82 times; she joined the liberal bloc of John Paul Stevens , David Souter , Ruth Bader Ginsburg , and Stephen Breyer only 28 times. O'Connor's relatively small shift away from conservatives on
935-490: The 1991 case Freeman v. Pitts , O'Connor joined a concurring opinion in a plurality, agreeing that a school district that had formerly been under judicial review for racial segregation could be freed of this review, even though not all desegregation targets had been met. Law professor Herman Schwartz criticized these rulings, writing that in both cases "both the fact and effects of segregation were still present". In 1996's Shaw v. Hunt and Shaw v. Reno , O'Connor joined
990-635: The College of William & Mary . In 2009, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama . Sandra Day was born on March 26, 1930, in El Paso, Texas , the daughter of Harry Alfred Day, a rancher , and Ada Mae (Wilkey). She grew up on a 198,000-acre family cattle ranch near Duncan, Arizona and in El Paso, where she attended school. Her home was nine miles from
1045-447: The Court of Appeals-Division One until 1981 when she was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan . Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other On July 7, 1981, Reagan – who had pledged during his 1980 presidential campaign to appoint
1100-523: The Court seems to have been due at least in part to Thomas' views. When Thomas and O'Connor were voting on the same side, she would typically write a separate opinion of her own, refusing to join his. In the 1992 term, O'Connor did not join a single one of Thomas's dissents. Some notable cases in which O'Connor joined the majority in a 5–4 decision were: O'Connor played an important role in other notable cases, such as: On February 22, 2005, with Rehnquist and Stevens (who were senior to her) absent, she became
1155-726: 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
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#17327796080471210-459: The Reagan coalition strongly supported him in 1980, in the belief that he would appoint Supreme Court justices to overturn Roe v. Wade . They were astonished and dismayed when his first appointment was O'Connor, who they feared would tolerate abortion. They worked hard to defeat her confirmation but failed. In her confirmation hearings and early days on the Court, O'Connor was carefully ambiguous on
1265-419: The Supreme Court (unlike other retired federal judges who may be permitted to do so in their former courts); neither are they known or designated as a "senior judge". When, after his retirement, William O. Douglas attempted to take a more active role than was customary, maintaining that it was his prerogative to do so because of his senior status, he was rebuffed by Chief Justice Warren Burger and admonished by
1320-657: The Supreme Court of the United States An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , other than the chief justice of the United States . The number of associate justices is eight, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869 . Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution of the United States grants plenary power to
1375-489: The Supreme Court. The justices, ordered by seniority, are: An associate justice who leaves the Supreme Court after attaining the age and meeting the service requirements prescribed by federal statute ( 28 U.S.C. § 371 ) may retire rather than resign. After retirement, they keep their title, and by custom may also keep a set of chambers in the Supreme Court building, and employ law clerks. The names of retired associate justices continue to appear alongside those of
1430-409: The active justices in the bound volumes of Supreme Court decisions. Federal statute ( 28 U.S.C. § 294 ) provides that retired Supreme Court justices may serve—if designated and assigned by the chief justice—on panels of the U.S. courts of appeals, or on the U.S. district courts. Retired justices are not, however, authorized to take part in the consideration or decision of any cases before
1485-474: The application of first amendment free speech rights to independent contractors working for public bodies, being unpersuaded "that there is a 'difference of constitutional magnitude' ... between independent contractors and employees" in circumstances where a contractor has been critical of a governing body. According to law professor Jeffrey Rosen , "O'Connor was an eloquent opponent of intrusive group searches that threatened privacy without increasing security. In
1540-428: The cases argued before it, and the chief justice's vote counts no more than that of any other justice; however, the chief justice leads the discussion of the case among the justices. Furthermore, the chief justice—when in the majority—decides who writes the court's opinion; otherwise, the senior justice in the majority assigns the writing of a decision. The chief justice also has certain administrative responsibilities that
1595-556: The complexity of church-state issues and tried to choose a course that respected the country's religious diversity" (Hudson 2005). O'Connor voted in favor of religious institutions, such as in Rosenberger v. University of Virginia (1995), Mitchell v. Helms (2000), and Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002). Conversely, in Lee v. Weisman she was part of the majority in the case that saw religious prayer and pressure to stand in silence at
1650-516: 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
1705-594: The conservative William Rehnquist (voting with him 87% of the time during her first three years at the Court). From that time until 1998, O'Connor's alignment with Rehnquist ranged from 93.4% to 63.2%, hitting above 90% in three of those years. In nine of her first 16 years on the Court, O'Connor voted with Rehnquist more than with any other justice. Later on, as the Court's make-up became more conservative (e.g., Anthony Kennedy replacing Lewis Powell , and Clarence Thomas replacing Thurgood Marshall ), O'Connor often became
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1760-643: The election for the seat the following year. By 1973, she became the first woman to serve as Arizona's or any state's majority leader . She developed a reputation as a skilled negotiator and a moderate. After serving two full terms, O'Connor decided to leave the Senate. In 1974, O'Connor was appointed to the Maricopa County Superior Court , serving from 1975 to 1979 when she was elevated to the Arizona Court of Appeals . She served on
1815-468: The family ranch was very distant from any school, although Day was able to return to the ranch for holidays and the summer. Day did spend her eighth-grade year living at the ranch and riding a bus 32 miles to school. She graduated sixth in her class at Austin High School in El Paso in 1946. When she was 16 years old, Day enrolled at Stanford University and later graduated magna cum laude with
1870-470: The first woman to the Court ;– announced he would nominate O'Connor as an associate justice of the Supreme Court to replace the retiring Potter Stewart . O'Connor received notification from President Reagan of her nomination on the day prior to the announcement and did not know that she was a finalist for the position. Reagan wrote in his diary on July 6, 1981: "Called Judge O'Connor and told her she
1925-669: The issue of abortion, as some conservatives questioned her anti-abortion credentials based on some of her votes in the Arizona legislature. O'Connor generally dissented from 1980s opinions which took an expansive view of Roe v. Wade ; she criticized that decision's "trimester approach" sharply in her dissent in City of Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health . (1983) She criticized Roe in Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (1986): "... I dispute not only
1980-598: The lack of a women's restroom near the Courtroom. Two years after O'Connor joined the Court, The New York Times published an editorial that mentioned the "nine men" of the "SCOTUS", or Supreme Court of the United States. O'Connor responded with a letter to the editor reminding the Times that the Court was no longer composed of nine men and referred to herself as FWOTSC (First Woman on the Supreme Court). O'Connor
2035-587: The most notable alumni members of the Stanford Law Review , former Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and William Rehnquist , attended Stanford Law School at the same time and graduated together with the class of 1952. The two future Supreme Court Justices became very close friends and even dated for a short time. In 2019, author Evan Thomas published A Biography of Sandra Day O'Connor , in which he presented information that he obtained from Justice O'Connor's personal documents, kept closed at
2090-422: The nearest paved road, and did not have running water or electricity until Sandra was seven years old. As a youth she owned a .22-caliber rifle, and would shoot coyotes and jackrabbits . She began driving as soon as she could see over the dashboard, and had to learn to change flat tires herself. Sandra had two younger siblings, a sister and a brother, respectively eight and ten years her junior. Her sister Ann Day
2145-686: The nomination. Gemma called the nomination "a direct contradiction of the Republican platform to everything that candidate Reagan said and even President Reagan has said in regard to social issues." Gemma, the executive director of the National Pro-Life Political Action Committee , had sought to delay O'Connor's confirmation by challenging her record, including support for the Equal Rights Amendment . O'Connor's confirmation hearing before
2200-634: The odd shape of the district in question, North Carolina's 12th , "bizarre". Law professor Herman Schwartz called O'Connor "the Court's leader in its assault on racially oriented affirmative action ", although she joined with the Court in upholding the constitutionality of limited race-based admissions to universities. In 2003, O'Connor authored a majority Supreme Court opinion ( Grutter v. Bollinger ) saying racial affirmative action should not be constitutional permanently, but long enough to correct past discrimination – with an approximate limit of around 25 years. The Christian right element in
2255-407: The other justices do not and is paid slightly more ($ 298,500 per year as of 2023, compared to $ 285,400 per year for an associate justice). Associate justices have seniority in order of the date their respective commissions bear, although the chief justice is always considered to be the most senior justice. If two justices are commissioned on the same day, the elder is designated the senior justice of
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2310-488: The practice of law. She volunteered in various political organizations, such as the Maricopa County Young Republicans, and served on Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater 's presidential campaign in 1964. O'Connor served as assistant Attorney General of Arizona from 1965 to 1969. In 1969, the governor of Arizona appointed O'Connor to fill a vacancy in the Arizona Senate . She ran for and won
2365-561: 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
2420-771: The same process. Among United States law journals , Stanford Law Review is ranked third by Washington and Lee University Law School and third by a professor at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication . The review's editorial board has a president, who is effectively the editor-in-chief of the publication. Notable past Presidents include Warren Christopher (1949), Brooksley Born (1964), Raymond C. Fisher (1966), David F. Levi (1980), Paul G. Cassell (1984), and Tony West (1990). Other notable alumni are William Rehnquist , Sandra Day O'Connor , Shirley Hufstedler , Joshua Bolten , Carlos Watson , Geoffrey Berman , and Peter Thiel . Two of
2475-422: The senior justice presiding over oral arguments in the case of Kelo v. City of New London and becoming the first woman to do so before the Court. O'Connor was unpredictable in many of her court decisions, especially those regarding First Amendment Establishment Clause issues. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State , said, "O'Connor was a conservative, but she saw
2530-424: The two. Currently, the senior associate justice is Clarence Thomas . By tradition, when the justices are in conference deliberating the outcome of cases before the Supreme Court, the justices state their views in order of seniority. The senior associate justice is also tasked with carrying out the chief justice's duties when he is unable to, or if that office is vacant. There are currently eight associate justices on
2585-472: The whole Court. There are currently three living retired associate justices: David Souter , retired June 29, 2009; Anthony Kennedy , retired July 31, 2018; and Stephen Breyer , retired June 30, 2022. Souter has served on panels of the First Circuit Courts of Appeals following his retirement; Kennedy and Breyer have not performed any judicial duties since retiring. Since the Supreme Court
2640-491: The wisdom but also the legitimacy of the Court's attempt to discredit and pre-empt state abortion regulation regardless of the interests it serves and the impact it has." In 1989, O'Connor stated during the deliberations over the Webster case that she would not overrule Roe . While on the Court, O'Connor did not vote to strike down any restrictions on abortion until Hodgson v. Minnesota in 1990. Associate justice of
2695-451: Was confirmed by the U.S. Senate with a vote of 99–0. Only Senator Max Baucus of Montana was absent from the vote. He sent O'Connor a copy of A River Runs Through It by way of apology. In her first year on the Court, she received over 60,000 letters from the public, more than any other justice in history. O'Connor said she felt a responsibility to demonstrate women could do the job of justice. She faced some practical concerns, including
2750-613: Was a member of the Arizona Legislature from 1990 to 2000. Her brother was H. Alan Day, a lifelong rancher, with whom she wrote Lazy B: Growing up on a Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest (2002), about their childhood experiences on the ranch. For most of her early schooling, Day lived in El Paso with her maternal grandmother, and attended school at the Radford School for Girls , a private school, as
2805-492: Was a proponent of collegiality among justices on the court, often insisting that the justices eat lunch together. In 1993, Ruth Bader Ginsburg became the second female Supreme Court justice. O'Connor said that she felt relief from the media clamor when she no longer was the only woman on the Court. In May 2010, O'Connor warned female Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan about the "unpleasant" process of confirmation hearings. Initially, O'Connor's voting record aligned closely with
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#17327796080472860-630: Was drafted, O'Connor decided to go with him to work in Germany as a civilian attorney for the Army's Quartermaster Corps . They remained there for three years before returning to the States where they settled in Maricopa County, Arizona , to begin their family. They had three sons: Scott (born 1958), Brian (born 1960), and Jay (born 1962). Following Brian's birth, O'Connor took a five-year hiatus from
2915-463: Was established in 1789, the following 104 persons have served as an associate justice: Stanford Law Review The Stanford Law Review ( SLR ) is a legal journal produced independently by Stanford Law School students. The journal was established in 1948 with future U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher as its first president. The review produces six issues yearly between January and June and regularly publishes short-form content on
2970-502: Was my nominee for supreme court. Already the flak is starting and from my own supporters. Right to Life people say she is pro abortion. She declares abortion is personally repugnant to her. I think she'll make a good justice." O'Connor told Reagan she did not remember whether she had supported repealing Arizona's law banning abortion . However, she had cast a preliminary vote in the Arizona State Senate in 1970 in favor of
3025-602: Was the first justice to articulate the "no endorsement" standard for the Establishment Clause. In Lynch v. Donnelly , O'Connor signed onto a five-justice majority opinion holding that a nativity scene in a public Christmas display did not violate the First Amendment. She penned a concurrence in that case, opining that the crèche did not violate the Establishment Clause because it did not express an endorsement or disapproval of any religion. In Board of County Commissioners, Wabaunsee County, Kansas v Umbehr (1996) she upheld
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