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
young ranchers wanted
I wanted to be a cattle rancher when I was young, because it was what I knew and I loved it.
government political doe
The Constitution does not protect the sovereignty of States for the benefit of the States or state governments as abstract political entities, or even for the benefit of the public officials governing the States. To the contrary, the Constitution divides authority between federal and state governments for the protection of individuals.
judging democracy intimidation
The freedom to criticize judges and other public officials is necessary to a vibrant democracy.
leadership horse experts
The really expert riders of horses let the horse know immediately who is in control, but then they guide the horse with loose reins and very seldom use the spurs. So it was with our chief [William Rehnquist]. He guided us with loose reins and used the spurs only rarely to get us up to speed with our work.
media attention firsts
What was a problem was the excessive amount of media attention to the appointment of the first woman and everything she did. Everywhere that Sandra went, the press was sure to go. And that got tiresome; it was stressful.
media focus too-much
It was better for me when I was joined at the court by a second woman. When I was there alone, there was too much media focus on the one woman, and the minute we got another woman, that changed.
progress care arizona
I care very much about women and their progress. I didn't go march in the streets, but when I was in the Arizona Legislature, one of the things that I did was to examine every single statute in the state of Arizona to pick out the ones that discriminated against women and get them changed.
independent paper constitution
The framers of the Constitution were so clear in the federalist papers and elsewhere that they felt an independent judiciary was critical to the success of the nation.
imbalance rooms gains
Despite the encouraging and wonderful gains and the changes for women which have occurred in my lifetime, there is still room to advance and to promote correction of the remaining deficiencies and imbalances.
responsibility opportunity equality
Society as a whole benefits immeasurably from a climate in which all persons, regardless of race or gender, may have the opportunity to earn respect, responsibility, advancement and remuneration based on ability.
lawyer professors young
And I went off to Stanford, I was pretty young and pretty naive. And I had a professor I really loved, who was himself a lawyer.
retirement needs retiring
I need to retire from retirement.
males female welcome
The members of the court were just delighted to have a ninth member - male or female. They were all kind and welcoming.
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.