I was blessed to be one of her clerks and, therefore, a part of her extended family. Her clerks’ children even have a nickname: “SO’C Grandclerk,” which is emblazoned on T-shirts. She often asked about our families and made clerk reunions family events. She and her husband, John, had an active social calendar in Washington, and she was often on the phone with one of her sons when I would come into her office that year. She brought her own homemade Southwestern dishes for lunch on Saturdays before argument weeks when we would meet to discuss the cases. She was nominated by President Ronald Reagan, who had made a campaign pledge to elect the first woman to the court. daily exercise class she organized in the building. Biography: In 1981 Sandra Day OConnor became the first woman to be nominated and confirmed to the US Supreme Court. We carved pumpkins for Halloween, visited the cherry blossoms in the spring, went to museums, and at least one clerk had to be the “exercise clerk,” who joined her for the 9 a.m. She imposed an ethos of the “full life” in her chambers. The business of the Court was only part of what SO’C expected of us. Justice O'Connor with Marci Hamilton’s two children, daughter Alex (left) and son Will. I went home to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, for two days that year: Christmas and Easter.ĭespite the pressures, we were held to the highest levels of professionalism. She could not be bullied into changing her mind, though Lord knows that Justice Antonin Scalia tried I watched her rise above pettiness in her personal dealings with others as well as in her opinions for the Court. During the 1989 term, there were 129 full opinions of the Court, which more than doubles the number from the most recent term, and clerks routinely worked seven days each week. We even drafted her speeches, and she was the most-requested justice in that era. We were expected to produce high-quality research, certiorari pool memos, bench memos, and opinion drafts on time. The work ethic in SO’C’s chambers was intense. Her strength of character made her precisely the right person to be the “first.” Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, or “SO’C,” as her clerks call her, was the first woman to join the United States Supreme Court and held that position with dignity. Other Ronald Reagan appointees to the Supreme Court included Antonin Scalia (1986) and Anthony Kennedy (1988)… The Supreme Court’s second female justice, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, was appointed by Bill Clinton and took the oath of office on August 10, 1993.Marci Hamilton, (right) Fels Institute of Government Professor of Practice and CEO of CHILD USA, clerked for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor from 1989 to 1990. After resistance from the Senate, Miers withdrew her name and Judge Samuel Alito was then nominated and confirmed… Sandra Day O’Connor replaced Justice Potter Stewart, who retired on Jafter 23 years on the court. to replace O’Connor on the court, but before Roberts could be confirmed, Chief Justice William Rehnquist died Roberts was nominated to the post of Chief Justice and President Bush nominated his confidante Harriet Miers to replace O’Connor. John O’Connor developed Alzheimer’s Disease late in life, was placed in a nursing home in 2007, and died in 2009… On July 19, 2005, President George W. They had three children: Scott (born 1957), Jay (b. They had met when both were students at Stanford University. On October 23, 2018, O'Connor announced that she herself was suffering from early-stage dementia and would withdraw from public life. ![]() She was succeeded the next year by Justice Samuel Alito. On Jshe announced her retirement, saying that she wanted to care for her husband, who was suffering from dementia. Gore, which forced a resolution to the 2000 elections in favor of Republican candidate George W. However, she did join her conservative colleagues in a critical 5-4 vote in Bush v. Over time, Sandra Day O'Connor earned a reputation on the bench as a moderate conservative and a key figure in court decisions related to the issue of abortion. She was confirmed by the Senate 99-0 and sworn in on September 25, 1981, becoming the first female justice in the court's history. Governor Bruce Babbitt raised her to the Arizona Court of Appeals in 1979, and in 1981 President Ronald Reagan nominated her for the U.S. She served the state as an assistant attorney general, state senator, and finally as a superior court judge. Born Sandra Day, she earned undergraduate and law (1952) degrees from Stanford University and eventually settled in Arizona. Name at birth: Sandra DaySandra Day O'Connor was the first woman ever to sit on the United States Supreme Court.
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