Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connoris a retired associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving from her appointment in 1981 by Ronald Reagan until her retirement in 2006. She was the first woman to be appointed to the Court...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSupreme Court Justice
Date of Birth26 March 1930
CityEl Paso, TX
CountryUnited States of America
Sandra Day O'Connor quotes about
philosophy justice waiting
I'm not on the court anymore, so no use looking for my philosophy. If somebody's waiting for that, they can wait for another justice.
thinking
I like to think that the court will continue to be held in high regard by the public. I think it should be.
home years law
I finally gave up my little law practice and stayed home for about three years. You have to do what you can to keep the family going. But I wanted to get back to work. So I got another babysitter and went to work as an Assistant Attorney General.
thinking political
I don't think it's the court's perceived role to do some explaining of a political nature.
thinking decision criticism
I think it's inevitable that some of the court's decisions will be found by a segment of the public to be not the right decision or subject to criticism.
nice long clerks
Historically, it took a long time before the court took any women law clerks. Finally, it did, but the numbers have never matched very effectively the percentages of law graduates out of graduating classes. We have far more than we ever did before and it's continued to grow, but it isn't a nice match yet.
thinking people duty
I think most people didn't want to do court duty.
justice decision clerks
Each justice hires their own clerks, and applications are made individually to the justices. It isn't a group decision.
jobs children careers
It's hard to have little children and a job and career at the same time. There is no time left for you as a woman.
I didn't want to be out of order answering any questions.
resolution attractive obligation
You have to answer the question, like it or not. And the questions deserve a valid legal response, even if the response isn't one that will be easily understood. You have an obligation as a member of the court to do what you are bound to do under federal law, even if it isn't an attractive resolution from a public standpoint.
past decision tough
[Court] is an institution that depends on making tough decisions in close cases for reasons that it explains well and that, in the past at least, have proven satisfactory to the public.
country thinking people
I think people know very little, really, about the court, how it works and its history. And both of those things are important in our country, but they're not things that most citizens know much about.
judging democracy intimidation
The freedom to criticize judges and other public officials is necessary to a vibrant democracy.