Sandra Day O'Connor (1930- )

Sandra Day O'Connor was born March 26, 1930 in El Paso, Texas. Her parents, Harry A. and Ada Mae (Wilkey) Day, were ranchers in Arizona. O'Connor attended Stanford University, graduating with a degree in economics in 1950. She then attended Stanford Law School, where she finished third in her class. (William H. Rehnquist, now Chief Justice, finished first in that same class at Stanford.) Despite her achievements in law school, she was not offered a position as an associate with any major firm with which she interviewed. O'Connor spent a year as a deputy county attorney in San Mateo, California. When her husband served in the Army in Germany as a Judge Advocate General (JAG-legal officer in the Army), O'Connor worked as a civilian attorney in the quartermaster corps of the Army. In 1956, they moved to the Phoenix area. In the 1960s, O'Connor worked for the Arizona attorney general's office, and in 1969 became a Senator in the Arizona legislature, filling an unexpired term. She won election to the Arizona Senate in 1972, and became majority leader. In 1974, O'Connor was elected a trial court judge in Arizona. In 1979, she was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals.

At the conclusion of the Supreme Court's October 1980 Term, Justice Potter Stewart retired. President Ronald Reagan nominated O'Connor to replace Stewart. She was confirmed overwhelmingly in September 1981, becoming the first woman to serve as a Justice of the Supreme Court.

Justice O'Connor was a pivotal member of the Court. A few years ago, I wrote an essay discussing Justice O'Connor's religion clause decisions. She was in the majority in religious liberty cases 90% of the time, far more than any other Justice during the 1980s and 1990s. O'Connor coined the "endorsement" test in establishment clause cases, which moved the Court from the Lemon test (enunciated in Lemon v. Kurtzman, 1971). In federalism cases, O'Connor has been in the vanguard in structuring judicially enforceable boundaries regarding federal action involving the states. In affirmative action cases, Justice O'Connor has focused on a fact-intensive inquiry that attempts to use the "compelling state interest" test as more than a label. Additionally, Justice O'Connor has supported the right to choose an abortion found in Roe v. Wade (1973), but has disagreed with the trimester approach of Roe.

During her tenure on the Court, Justice O'Connor suffered from cancer, but has shown no effects from it in the past several years.

She retired from the Court in late January 2006 after the confirmation of her successor, Samuel Alito.  

She married John O'Connor, also a lawyer, in 1952. They have three children.