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
court depends exert power
The power I exert on the court depends on the power of my arguments, not on my gender.
court fair helps people terms women
In terms of having the American people look at the court and think of it as being fair and appropriate for our nation, it helps to have women, plural, on the court.
court hostility
There was no hostility at the court when I arrived.
court cases reviews
Most high courts in other nations do not have discretion, such as we enjoy, in selecting the cases that the high court reviews. Our court is virtually alone in the amount of discretion it has.
school dark court-judges
When I went to law school, which after all was back in the dark ages, we never looked beyond our borders for precedents. As a state court judge, it never would have occurred to me to do so, and when I got to the Supreme Court, it was very much the same. We just didn't do it.
argument gender court
The power I exert on the court depends on the power of the power of my arguments, not my gender
The fact is, we are a nine-member court that sits on cases.
knew
Well, it's a little odd, the path I took, because when I was young, I wanted to be a cattle rancher. That was what I knew and that was what I liked.
legal reach
I've always said that at the end of the day, on a legal issue, I think a wise old woman and a wise old man are going to reach the same conclusion.
As a citizen, you need to know how to be a part of it, how to express yourself - and not just by voting.
jobs moving justice
My concern was whether I could do the job of a justice well enough to convince the nation that my appointment was the right move.
may statistics death-penalty
If statistics are any indication, the system may well be allowing some innocent defendants to be executed.
persistence reality government
The unhappy persistence of both the practice and the lingering effects of racial discrimination ...is an unfortunate reality...and the government is not disqualified from acting in response to it.
years use today
We expect that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today.