Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife Ginni sat with the other eight Supreme Court justices Tuesday at the funeral of the late Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
Chief Justice John Roberts remarked that the “Supreme Court is like a family.”
“A family made up entirely of in-laws,” he said.
President Joe Biden arrived late to the rally at the Washington National Cathedral after flying in from Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday morning.
He told the room that O'Connor's groundbreaking career was proof that “women can not only do anything a man can do, but often do it much better.”
“Excuse my language, folks,” Biden added.
O'Connor's son Jay also spoke, telling the crowd how his mother once earned a “B” in civics – the cause she dedicated her life to after leaving the Supreme Court – and how she had taken disco lessons in dancing .
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts talked about how the Supreme Court is like a family. “A family made up entirely of in-laws,” he joked while speaking at Sandra Day O'Connor's memorial service on Tuesday
Members of the Supreme Court attended Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's funeral, including (from left) Neil Gorsuch, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, Samuel Alito, Ginni Thomas, wife of Clarence Thomas, Jane Sullivan, wife of the Supreme Court Judge John Roberts
President Joe Biden delivered a speech Tuesday morning at the Washington National Cathedral at the funeral of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to ever serve on the Supreme Court
President Joe Biden sat in the front row of the Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday for the funeral of the nation's first female Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor
A hearse carrying the casket of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor arrives at the Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday for the funeral of the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court
O'Connor died on December 1 at the age of 93 after a multi-year battle with dementia.
She withdrew from public life in 2018.
Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor died on December 1 at the age of 93
O'Connor was nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, confirmed unanimously in the Senate, and served from 1981 until January 2006, before retiring to care for her husband, who had Alzheimer's disease.
Biden, who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972, recalled O'Connor's rise to the bench when he served as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“I was the ranking member of that committee and the day's business was significant: the nomination of Sandra Day O'Connor,” Biden recalled. “To become the first woman in American history to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court of the United States.”
The president noted that she is a “daughter of the American West” — raised on the Lazy B Ranch in Arizona — and is a “pioneer in her own right.”
“You don’t have to agree with all of their decisions to see that their principles are deep-rooted and of the highest quality and that their desire for civility is genuine,” Biden said.
The president also praised O'Connor for speaking so transparently about her husband's battle with Alzheimer's and then her own battle with dementia.
“To the entire family, including the grandchildren: I know how difficult it has been to watch over the years as an illness has taken so much from both of you and all of you,” Biden said.
“I hope that you hold on to what is truly lost, to the love that they both felt for you, a love that you felt for them.” “They shared many things freely and a love that was shared with equal devotion replied,” the president continued. “What a gift. What a gift.'
“And I hope you find comfort in another profound consequence of her service — the countless families she helped by speaking so openly about your family’s experiences,” Biden added. 'It is important.'
The President spoke of the saying: “Memory is the strength to pick roses in winter.”
“I hope you find strength in knowing that your parents will be together again in December, gathering roses again in the winter, as great Americans, both of them, great Americans for all seasons,” Biden said, again calling O'Connor American Pioneer.'
Sandra Day O'Connor's son Jay gave a memorable eulogy, revealing his mother once got a B grade in civics – and took disco dancing lessons
President Joe Biden looks up as he attends the memorial service for Judge Sandra Day O'Connor in Washington on Tuesday
Family members of Judge Sandra Day O'Connor react during her funeral Tuesday at the Washington National Cathedral
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson arrived Tuesday to attend the memorial service for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch (left) sat next to liberal Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan (right) at the memorial service for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on Tuesday
Roberts, who became chief justice in 2005, recalled preparing O'Connor for the bench as a young Justice Department official.
“I was proud to be part of their team. And I thought our group did a pretty good job, after all, justice was vindicated 99% of the time and we have to have something to do with it,” Roberts said. “It wasn’t until many years later that I was told that she thought I had been slow to provide her with material.”
“I should have learned that when faced with a challenge or responsibility, her approach was simple and direct: Get it done,” Roberts said.
O'Connor was a moderate conservative and was considered a swing vote under the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
During her time in office, she was often referred to as the “most powerful woman in the country.”
She often sided with her conservative judicial colleagues — as in Bush v. Gore, when she handed the 2000 presidential election to Republican President George W. Bush before a recount was completed — but she also sometimes sided with liberals .
She supported the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law and the use of affirmative action in college admissions.
In what looks more liberal since last summer's Dobbs decision, O'Connor was one of the key architects when the Supreme Court upheld Roe v. Wade in Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
The case affirmed Roe's central message that the Constitution protects a right to privacy and therefore a right to abortion.
But it also changed how and when women could exercise this right.
The Casey decision said women could have an abortion up to viability – the point at which a fetus could survive outside the womb – and the state could not “unduly burden” abortion access.
However, this still opened the door for states to impose abortion restrictions starting in the first trimester of pregnancy.
The Dobbs decision overruled both Roe and Casey.