SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR
Name: Sandra Day O'Connor
Born: 26 March 1930 El Paso, Texas
Sandra Day O'Connor (born March 26, 1930) is an American jurist who was the
first woman to serve as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United
States. She served from 1981 to 2006. Although she was considered a strict
constructionist, her case-by-case approach to jurisprudence and her relatively
moderate political views made her the crucial swing vote of the Court for many
of her final years on the bench. She still objected to that characterization
because she felt it painted her as an unprincipled jurist. In 2001, Ladies' Home
Journal ranked her as the second most powerful woman in America. In 2004 and
2005 Forbes Magazine listed her as the sixth and thirty sixth most powerful
woman in the world, respectively; the only American women preceding her on the
list were Former National Security Advisor & U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice, New York Senator and former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, and First
Lady Laura Welch Bush.
Prior to joining the Supreme Court, she was a politician and jurist in Arizona.
She was nominated to the Court by President Ronald Reagan and served for over
twenty-four years. On July 1, 2005, she announced her intention to retire
effective upon the confirmation of her successor. Justice Samuel Alito,
nominated to take her seat in October 2005, received confirmation on January 31,
2006. She is currently the Chancellor of the College of William and Mary, and
also currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the National Constitution
Center in Philadelphia, a museum dedicated to the U.S. Constitution.
Name: Sandra Day O'Connor
Born: 26 March 1930 El Paso, Texas
Sandra Day O'Connor (born March 26, 1930) is an American jurist who was the
first woman to serve as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United
States. She served from 1981 to 2006. Although she was considered a strict
constructionist, her case-by-case approach to jurisprudence and her relatively
moderate political views made her the crucial swing vote of the Court for many
of her final years on the bench. She still objected to that characterization
because she felt it painted her as an unprincipled jurist. In 2001, Ladies' Home
Journal ranked her as the second most powerful woman in America. In 2004 and
2005 Forbes Magazine listed her as the sixth and thirty sixth most powerful
woman in the world, respectively; the only American women preceding her on the
list were Former National Security Advisor & U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice, New York Senator and former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, and First
Lady Laura Welch Bush.
Prior to joining the Supreme Court, she was a politician and jurist in Arizona.
She was nominated to the Court by President Ronald Reagan and served for over
twenty-four years. On July 1, 2005, she announced her intention to retire
effective upon the confirmation of her successor. Justice Samuel Alito,
nominated to take her seat in October 2005, received confirmation on January 31,
2006. She is currently the Chancellor of the College of William and Mary, and
also currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the National Constitution
Center in Philadelphia, a museum dedicated to the U.S. Constitution.