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
jail judging decision
I don't know how a judge can concentrate on being fair and impartial when he or she is faced with possible jail time for making a decision that others deem incorrect.
judging democracy intimidation
The freedom to criticize judges and other public officials is necessary to a vibrant democracy.
judging people decision
I'm a judge. It seemed to me that it was critical to try to take action to stem the criticism and help people understand that in the constitutional framework, it's terribly important not to have a system of retaliation against decisions people don't like.
independent judging people
Apparently a great many people have forgotten that the framers of our Constitution went to such great effort to create an independent judicial branch that would not be subject to retaliation by either the executive branch or the legislative branch because of some decision made by those judges.
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.
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.
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.