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
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.
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.
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.
government generations teach
We have a complex system of government. You have to teach it to every generation.
gay dare felony
How dare you make my life a felony.
successful two government
It matters enormously to a successful democratic society like ours that we have three branches of government, each with some independence and some control over the other two. Thats set out in the Constitution.
argument gender court
The power I exert on the court depends on the power of the power of my arguments, not my gender
conflict civility manners
Unfortunately civility is hard to codify or legislate, but you know it when you see it. It's possible to disagree without being disagreeable.
graduation should-have impact
Be aware that even before you have reached your ultimate professional destination, if you always strive for excellence, you can and should have a substantial impact on the world in which you live.
commitment law people
Commitment to the rule of law provides a basic assurance that people can know what to expect whether what they do is popular or unpopular at the time.
voting citizens needs
As a citizen, you need to know how to be a part of it, how to express yourself - and not just by voting.
time learning tasks
Do the best you can in every task, no matter how unimportant it may seem at the time. No one learns more about a problem than the person at the bottom.
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.
beer thinking mexican
So how as a nation can we sit around and eat Mexican food, and drink beer and make friends? That's the question. If we can do that on a broader scale, I think we'll come out of it all right.