Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female justice on the United States Supreme Court, has died at the age of 93, the court announced. O’Connor was appointed to the Supreme Court by Republican President Ronald Reagan and served from 1981 to 2006. Although she represented a conservative ideology, she gained a reputation as a moderate jurist. She voted for abortion rights and gay rights, but most importantly, she broke the glass ceiling that had kept women out of the United States’ most important judicial branch and other positions of power.
His arrival at the Supreme Court was a milestone. During his 1980 presidential campaign, Reagan promised to appoint a woman to the Supreme Court. When Justice Potter Stewart retired in 1981, he nominated O’Connor on the grounds that she was a “person for all seasons.” O’Connor has held positions in the executive, legislative and judicial branches. The Senate unanimously confirmed his appointment on September 21, 1981, and he took his seat on the court four days later.
“When women come to power, barriers will fall. “When society sees what women can do, when women see what women can do, there will be more women doing things and we will all be better off for it,” Sandra Day O’Connor said in a November statement Speech about women in power 1990.
Although she graduated at the top of her class in 1952, no law firm in California would hire her as an attorney because she was a woman, which was common among lawyers of her generation. The only job offer she received was as a legal secretary at a law firm in Los Angeles. However, O’Connor persisted in his job search and eventually contacted the district attorney in San Mateo County, California. He told her that his office did not have the resources to hire another employee. “I wrote him a long letter,” said O’Connor, “outlining all the reasons why I thought he might do things that would be useful to him in the office.” He offered to work for free if necessary. Based on his letter, they offered him a position as assistant district attorney, as the Supreme Court recalls in an exhibition dedicated to him.
While her husband was stationed with the Army Advocate General Corps in Frankfurt in 1954, she worked as a civilian attorney in the US Army Quartermaster Corps. The O’Connors returned to the United States in 1957 and settled in Phoenix, Arizona, where she became a lawyer and opened a law office in a shopping center with a colleague. The O’Connors’ three children, Scott, Brian and Jay, were born within the next six years. With the birth of his second child, he gave up practicing law to concentrate on his family, although he was heavily involved in local Republican Party politics and community service.
In 1965, O’Connor returned as deputy attorney general. She remained active in politics and was elected as his successor in 1969 when a seat in the Arizona State Senate became vacant. She was re-elected twice and in 1972 became the country’s first woman to serve as majority leader in a state legislature. As a legislator, O’Connor worked to change several Arizona laws that discriminated against women, including a 1913 law that banned women from working more than eight hours a day and was used to prevent women from to look for and keep a job. In addition, O’Connor promoted laws that gave women equal responsibility in managing joint property with their spouses.
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In 1975, she successfully ran for trial judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court, a position she held until 1979, when Governor Bruce Babbitt appointed her to the Arizona Court of Appeals. Shortly thereafter, his nomination to the Supreme Court would arrive.
Although the position of Supreme Court Justice is for life, Justice O’Connor announced her retirement from the Supreme Court in July 2005. First, President George W. Bush nominated John Roberts as his successor. However, when Chief Justice William Rehnquist died in September 2005, Bush decided to nominate Roberts to fill the vacancy and has led the court ever since. Then, in October, Bush initially nominated lawyer Harriet Miers to replace O’Connor, but she decided to withdraw her nomination. Finally, in November, Bush nominated conservative Justice Samuel Alito to fill the vacancy of O’Connor, whose resignation took effect with Alito’s ratification.
After leaving the Court on January 31, 2006, Judge O’Connor continued to be a tireless advocate for judicial independence and the rule of law around the world. In recognition of her lifetime achievements, President Barack Obama awarded Judge O’Connor the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, on August 12, 2009.
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