Sandra Day O'Connor

Sandra Day O'Connor
91st Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
In office September 21, 1981 – January 31, 2006
Nominated by	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	Potter Stewart
Succeeded by	Samuel Alito
23rd Chancellor of The College of William & Mary
In office April 7, 2006 – February 3, 2012
Preceded by	Henry Kissinger
Succeeded by	Robert Gates
Personal details
Born	Sandra Day (1930-03-26)March 26, 1930 El Paso, Texas, U.S.
Died	December 1, 2023(2023-12-01) (aged 93) Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	John O'Connor (1952–2009)
Children	3
Alma mater	Stanford University
Signature

Sandra Day O'Connor (March 26, 1930 – December 1, 2023) was a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was the first woman to serve as justice on the Supreme Court, as well as the first from Arizona.

One of her ideas on the Supreme Court was the endorsement test. It was a way to check if the government was supporting religion.

Life

O'Connor was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan. Reagan said while running for president that he wanted a woman to be on the Supreme Court and promised to nominate a woman for the job the first chance he got. One of her biggest supporters was Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, who helped make sure that all 100 Senators voted to confirm her.

While on the Supreme Court, she was involved in several major Supreme Court decisions including: Bush v. Gore, which had to do with a disputed election; Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which involved a woman's right to privacy. She was also involved in Lawrence v. Texas, a case about whether burning a US flag was free speech. She retired from the court in 2006. Samuel Alito was chosen to replace her.

On August 12, 2009, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This is the highest civilian honor of the United States. It was given by President Barack Obama.

In October 2018, O’Connor announced her retirement from public life after revealing that she was diagnosed with the early stages of dementia.

On December 1, 2023, O'Connor died in Phoenix, Arizona from problems caused by dementia and respiratory failure, aged 93.

Things named after her

She has a high school named after her in North Phoenix, Arizona.

Sources

• Greenburg, Jan Crawford (2007). Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court. Penguin Books.
• Montini, E.J. (2005) "Rehnquist is No. 1, O'Connor is No. 3, Baloney is No. 2.", The Arizona Republic. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
• O'Connor, Sandra Day; and Day, H. Alan (2002). Lazy B: Growing Up on a Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest. Random House. ISBN 0-375-50724-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Other websites

• Supreme Court official site with biographies
• Profile at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center
• Legal resources at the Law Library of Congress
• Biography and writings at the Legal Information Institute
• Profile at the Oyez Project
• Profile at Judgepedia
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Profile at the Internet Movie Database
• Collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Works by or about Sandra Day O'Connor in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Profile at Notable Names Database

Legal offices
Preceded by Potter Stewart	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States 1981–2006	Succeeded by Samuel Alito
Order of Precedence of the United States of America
Preceded by John Paul Stevens as Senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court	Order of Precedence of the United States as Senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court	Succeeded by David Souter as Senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court