Sandra Day attended Stanford University, where she received her B.A. in Economics in 1950. She continued at the Stanford Law School for her law degree in 1952.
College/University
Gallery of Sandra O'Connor
Young Sandra Day O'Connor
Career
Gallery of Sandra O'Connor
1969
Arizona, USA
When O'Connor returned to the United States from Germany, she split her time between raising her children and remaining politically active. During the early 1960s she volunteered for Barry Goldwater (seen here speaking with O'Connor in 1981). O'Connor's political career began to gain momentum in 1965, where she held a part-time position as an Assistant Attorney General in Arizona. In 1969, the state senator from her home district resigned, and Governor Jack Williams appointed her to fill the position, to which she was reelected twice in 1970 and 1972.
Gallery of Sandra O'Connor
1981
United States
O'Connor's opinions evolved with her tenure in the Supreme Court. Initially, she sided with her conservative colleagues on most issues, making exceptions for issues of freedom of speech and information. She gained a reputation as a defender against sex discrimination, famously penning an opinion in a case that called a nursing school's decision to refuse admission to male applicants unconstitutional. She is pictured here in her office before the start of her first judicial season in 1981.
Gallery of Sandra O'Connor
1981
United States
Pictured fifth from left, standing next to President Ronald Reagan, Sandra Day O'Connor appears in the first group portrait in history of the nine Supreme Court justices to include a woman within its ranks.
Gallery of Sandra O'Connor
1981
United States
Ultimately, O'Connor was confirmed by a unanimous senate vote to make her the first female supreme court justice. In this picture, she is swarmed by press shortly after her September 21, 1981 confirmation as a justice of the Supreme Court. To her left, she is accompanied by Barry Goldwater; to her right, republican senator Strom Thurmond, who was a noteworthy ally of the justice during her confirmation hearings despite his conservative reputation. While some conservative opposition had presented itself, based on her mixed history of legislation on abortion rights and support for the Equal Rights amendment, many republicans in the Senate approved of Reagan's choice of judicial nominee; she was deferential to other branches of government, tough on criminal cases, and constitutionally conservative in her judicial opinions.
Gallery of Sandra O'Connor
1981
United States
O'Connor is sworn in for testimony during her senate confirmation hearings in 1981. Though her qualifications made it difficult to argue against the wisdom of the appointment, conservative republicans at the time expressed reservations that she would not oppose abortion in decisions concerning Roe v. Wade.
Gallery of Sandra O'Connor
1981
Arizona, USA
For President Reagan, appointing O'Connor was partially a response to pre-election polls that noted a lack of female support. During his 1980 presidential campaign, he vowed to appoint a woman to fill the first available Supreme Court vacancy if elected; on July 7, 1981, he fulfilled his promise as president. Here, O'Connor faces attention from the media after her historic nomination.
Gallery of Sandra O'Connor
1981
Arizona, USA
O'Connor's successful tenure in the Arizona state senate led to a position as the senate's majority leader, making her the first woman in the United States to hold that position in a state legislature. Despite the historic feat, she left the position in 1974 to run, successfully, for a judicial position in the Maricopa County Superior Court. In 1979, Governor Bruce Babbit appointed her to the Arizona Court of Appeals. Then, in June 1981, after Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart announced his retirement from the position he had held since 1958, President Ronald Reagan nominated her as his replacement.
Gallery of Sandra O'Connor
1985
United States
O'Connor is pictured here at her Phoenix, Arizona home with her husband, John Jay O'Connor, and three sons, Scott, Jay and Brian, a month after she was sworn in. Though she was born in Texas and spent much of her childhood there, much of her early civic engagement, especially while working part-time as she raised her children, took place in Arizona and it was that state's political climate would come to shape her career.
Gallery of Sandra O'Connor
1991
United States
As she neared a decade of service on the Supreme Court, O'Connor's opinions began to take a more independent direction. Breaking from the conservative block, she became a swing vote that both ideological halves of the court would try to sway, though she maintained a strong focus on first amendment rights, discrimination and gender issues. She was the swing vote in a case that narrowed the scope of affirmative action, and in 1995 weakened a case regarding the Voting Rights Act which favored minority representation. O'Connor was strong on women's issues, upholding Roe v. Wade in a 1992 challenge to the decision, and regularly advocating for stronger job opportunity rights for women. She is pictured here in 1991 with the court's second female justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Gallery of Sandra O'Connor
2005
United States
O'Connor announced her plans to retire in July 2005, but served through January of the following year until she was replaced by Samuel Alito. She has remained active in her retirement, continuing to speak on legal issues and promoting equality for women.
Gallery of Sandra O'Connor
2005
USA
(March 3, 2005 - Source: Mark Wilson/Getty Images News)
Gallery of Sandra O'Connor
2006
United States
In 2006, O'Connor was named one of "America's Best Leaders" by U.S. News & World Report, and in the same year presided over a federal appeals court in New York as well as serving as a member of the Iraq Study Group, appointed by congress to the position. In addition, she has published several books, one about ranch life in the Southwest written with her brother, and several children's picture books of her own. This formal portrait was made in 1991.
Gallery of Sandra O'Connor
2009
Washington, DC., USA
Sandra Day O'Connor (L) talks with Elena Kagan during the Sandra Day O'Connor Project on The State of The Judiciary's forum "Striking the Balance: Fair and Independent Courts in a New Era" at Georgetown University Law Center May 20, 2009 in Washington, DC. A former Dean of the Harvard Law School, Kagan's name has been included on many peoples' short list of possible candidates to the Supreme Court to replace Justice David Souter, who is retiring this year.
(May 20, 2009 - Source: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Sandra O'Connor
2010
300 E Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90802, USA
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (C) looks at former justice Sandra Day O'Connor (R) speak during a discussion with ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer (L) during California first lady Maria Shriver's annual Women's Conference 2010 on October 26, 2010 at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California. Attendees to the conference include Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and candidates for California Governor Republican Meg Whitman and Democrat Jerry Brown.
(Source: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Sandra O'Connor
2011
Williamsburg, Virginia, USA
Colin Campbell (R) joins (L-R) Gordon Wood, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Jim Lehrer as they receive the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's highest accolade, the Churchill Bell, for citizenship on April 30, 2011 in Williamsburg, Virginia.
(April 29, 2011 - Source: Leigh Vogel/Getty Images North America)
Gallery of Sandra O'Connor
2011
Williamsburg, Virginia, USA
Andrea Mitchell (R) moderates a conversation with (L-R) Gordon Wood, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Jim Lehrer, the recipients of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's highest accolade, the Churchill Bell, for citizenship on April 30, 2011 in Williamsburg, Virginia.
(April 29, 2011 - Source: Leigh Vogel/Getty Images North America)
When O'Connor returned to the United States from Germany, she split her time between raising her children and remaining politically active. During the early 1960s she volunteered for Barry Goldwater (seen here speaking with O'Connor in 1981). O'Connor's political career began to gain momentum in 1965, where she held a part-time position as an Assistant Attorney General in Arizona. In 1969, the state senator from her home district resigned, and Governor Jack Williams appointed her to fill the position, to which she was reelected twice in 1970 and 1972.
O'Connor's opinions evolved with her tenure in the Supreme Court. Initially, she sided with her conservative colleagues on most issues, making exceptions for issues of freedom of speech and information. She gained a reputation as a defender against sex discrimination, famously penning an opinion in a case that called a nursing school's decision to refuse admission to male applicants unconstitutional. She is pictured here in her office before the start of her first judicial season in 1981.
Pictured fifth from left, standing next to President Ronald Reagan, Sandra Day O'Connor appears in the first group portrait in history of the nine Supreme Court justices to include a woman within its ranks.
Ultimately, O'Connor was confirmed by a unanimous senate vote to make her the first female supreme court justice. In this picture, she is swarmed by press shortly after her September 21, 1981 confirmation as a justice of the Supreme Court. To her left, she is accompanied by Barry Goldwater; to her right, republican senator Strom Thurmond, who was a noteworthy ally of the justice during her confirmation hearings despite his conservative reputation. While some conservative opposition had presented itself, based on her mixed history of legislation on abortion rights and support for the Equal Rights amendment, many republicans in the Senate approved of Reagan's choice of judicial nominee; she was deferential to other branches of government, tough on criminal cases, and constitutionally conservative in her judicial opinions.
O'Connor is sworn in for testimony during her senate confirmation hearings in 1981. Though her qualifications made it difficult to argue against the wisdom of the appointment, conservative republicans at the time expressed reservations that she would not oppose abortion in decisions concerning Roe v. Wade.
For President Reagan, appointing O'Connor was partially a response to pre-election polls that noted a lack of female support. During his 1980 presidential campaign, he vowed to appoint a woman to fill the first available Supreme Court vacancy if elected; on July 7, 1981, he fulfilled his promise as president. Here, O'Connor faces attention from the media after her historic nomination.
O'Connor's successful tenure in the Arizona state senate led to a position as the senate's majority leader, making her the first woman in the United States to hold that position in a state legislature. Despite the historic feat, she left the position in 1974 to run, successfully, for a judicial position in the Maricopa County Superior Court. In 1979, Governor Bruce Babbit appointed her to the Arizona Court of Appeals. Then, in June 1981, after Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart announced his retirement from the position he had held since 1958, President Ronald Reagan nominated her as his replacement.
O'Connor is pictured here at her Phoenix, Arizona home with her husband, John Jay O'Connor, and three sons, Scott, Jay and Brian, a month after she was sworn in. Though she was born in Texas and spent much of her childhood there, much of her early civic engagement, especially while working part-time as she raised her children, took place in Arizona and it was that state's political climate would come to shape her career.
As she neared a decade of service on the Supreme Court, O'Connor's opinions began to take a more independent direction. Breaking from the conservative block, she became a swing vote that both ideological halves of the court would try to sway, though she maintained a strong focus on first amendment rights, discrimination and gender issues. She was the swing vote in a case that narrowed the scope of affirmative action, and in 1995 weakened a case regarding the Voting Rights Act which favored minority representation. O'Connor was strong on women's issues, upholding Roe v. Wade in a 1992 challenge to the decision, and regularly advocating for stronger job opportunity rights for women. She is pictured here in 1991 with the court's second female justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
O'Connor announced her plans to retire in July 2005, but served through January of the following year until she was replaced by Samuel Alito. She has remained active in her retirement, continuing to speak on legal issues and promoting equality for women.
In 2006, O'Connor was named one of "America's Best Leaders" by U.S. News & World Report, and in the same year presided over a federal appeals court in New York as well as serving as a member of the Iraq Study Group, appointed by congress to the position. In addition, she has published several books, one about ranch life in the Southwest written with her brother, and several children's picture books of her own. This formal portrait was made in 1991.
Sandra Day O'Connor (L) talks with Elena Kagan during the Sandra Day O'Connor Project on The State of The Judiciary's forum "Striking the Balance: Fair and Independent Courts in a New Era" at Georgetown University Law Center May 20, 2009 in Washington, DC. A former Dean of the Harvard Law School, Kagan's name has been included on many peoples' short list of possible candidates to the Supreme Court to replace Justice David Souter, who is retiring this year.
(May 20, 2009 - Source: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America)
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (C) looks at former justice Sandra Day O'Connor (R) speak during a discussion with ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer (L) during California first lady Maria Shriver's annual Women's Conference 2010 on October 26, 2010 at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California. Attendees to the conference include Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and candidates for California Governor Republican Meg Whitman and Democrat Jerry Brown.
(Source: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images North America)
Colin Campbell (R) joins (L-R) Gordon Wood, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Jim Lehrer as they receive the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's highest accolade, the Churchill Bell, for citizenship on April 30, 2011 in Williamsburg, Virginia.
(April 29, 2011 - Source: Leigh Vogel/Getty Images North America)
Andrea Mitchell (R) moderates a conversation with (L-R) Gordon Wood, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Jim Lehrer, the recipients of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's highest accolade, the Churchill Bell, for citizenship on April 30, 2011 in Williamsburg, Virginia.
(April 29, 2011 - Source: Leigh Vogel/Getty Images North America)
Sandra Day attended Stanford University, where she received her B.A. in Economics in 1950. She continued at the Stanford Law School for her law degree in 1952.
The Majesty of the Law: Reflections of a Supreme Court Justice
(In this remarkable book, a national bestseller in hardcov...)
In this remarkable book, a national bestseller in hardcover, Sandra Day O’Connor explores the law, her life as a Supreme Court Justice, and how the Court has evolved and continues to function, grow, and change as an American institution.
Lazy B: Growing Up on a Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest
(In this beautiful, illuminating, and unusual book, Sandra...)
In this beautiful, illuminating, and unusual book, Sandra Day O'Connor, with her brother, Alan, tells the story of the Day family and of growing up on the harsh yet beautiful land of the Lazy B Ranch in Arizona. Laced throughout these stories about three generations of the Day family, and everyday life on the Lazy B, are the lessons Sandra and Alan learned about the world, about people, self-reliance, and survival, and the reader will learn how the values of the Lazy B shaped them and their lives. Sandra's grandfather first put some cattle on open grazing land in 1886, and the Lazy B developed and continued to prosper as Sandra's parents, who eloped and then lived on the Lazy B all their lives, carved out a frugal and happy life for themselves and their three children on the rugged frontier. As you read about the daily adventures, the cattle drives and roundups, the cowboys and horses, the continual praying for rain and fixing of windmills, the values instilled by a self-reliant way of life, you see how Sandra Day O'Connor grew up. This fascinating glimpse of life in the American Southwest in the last century recounts an interesting time in our history, and gives us an enduring portrait of an independent young woman on the brink of becoming one of the most prominent figures in America today.
Out of Order: Stories from the History of the Supreme Court - Kindle edition
(Out of Order sheds light on the centuries of change and u...)
Out of Order sheds light on the centuries of change and upheaval that transformed the Supreme Court from its uncertain beginnings into the remarkable institution that thrives and endures today. From the early days of circuit-riding, when justices who also served as trial judges traveled thousands of miles per year on horseback to hear cases, to the changes in civil rights ushered in by Earl Warren and Thurgood Marshall; from foundational decisions such as Marbury vs. Madison to modern-day cases such as Hamdi vs. Rumsfeld, Justice O'Connor weaves together stories and lessons from the history of the Court, charting turning points and pivotal moments that have helped define our nation's progress.
(A “perfect pet” story from Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. S...)
A “perfect pet” story from Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Sandra is growing up on a desert ranch surrounded by animals, but she wants one to have her very own pet. A tortoise isn’t really friendly, a little rabbit is too fearful, and a young coyote howls to rejoin his pack. A bobcat almost fits the bill, but soon grows too big and fierce to be a housecat. Sandra’s parents let her learn for herself that these animals are best suited to the wild, though it is often hard to let them go. Finally, a smiley little stray dog finds Sandra. Sandra names the dog Susie, and the two become wonderful friends.
(Sandra loves ranch life. Most of all, she loves riding he...)
Sandra loves ranch life. Most of all, she loves riding her pony, Chico. But a ride to visit a new calf ends in a terrifying encounter with a rattlesnake. Sandra learns an important lesson about taking care of herself and her horse—and about overcoming her fears. In this story, based on a true-life incident, young Sandra demonstrates the forthright spirit that gave her the courage and confidence to become the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court.
Sandra Day O'Connor is an American jurist. O'Connor was first woman to serve as a United States Supreme Court Justice. President Ronald Reagan nominated O'Connor in 1981. She continued to serve as a justice until she retired in 2006.
Background
Sandra Day was born on March 26, 1930, in El Paso, Texas, the daughter of Harry Alfred Day, a rancher, and Ada Mae (Wilkey). She grew up on a 198,000-acre cattle ranch near Duncan, Arizona. The ranch was nine miles from the nearest paved road. The family home did not have running water or electricity until Sandra was seven years old. She hunted from a young age, using a .22-caliber rifle to shoot jackrabbits for food. She began driving as soon as she could see over the dashboard and had to learn to change flat automobile tires herself.
Sandra had two younger siblings, a sister and a brother, respectively eight and ten years her junior. Her sister was Ann Day, who served in the Arizona Legislature. She later wrote a book with her brother, H. Alan Day, Lazy B: Growing up on a Cattle Ranch in the American West (2002), about her childhood experiences on the ranch.
Education
For most of her early schooling, O'Connor lived in El Paso with her maternal grandmother, and attended school at the Radford School for Girls, a private school. The family cattle ranch was too far from schools, although O'Connor was able to return to the ranch for holidays and the summer. O'Connor spent her eighth-grade year living at the ranch and riding a bus 32 miles to school. She graduated sixth in her class at Austin High School in El Paso in 1946.
Sandra Day attended Stanford University, where she received her B.A. in Economics in 1950. She continued at the Stanford Law School for her law degree in 1952. There, she served on the Stanford Law Review with its presiding editor-in-chief, future Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who was the class valedictorian and whom she briefly dated during law school. She has stated that she graduated third in her law school class, though Stanford's official position is that the law school did not rank students in 1952.
Unable to find employment in a law firm because she was a woman - despite her academic achievements, one firm offered her a job as a secretary - she became a deputy district attorney in San Mateo county, California. After a brief tenure, she and her husband, a member of the United States Army Judge Advocate General Corps, moved to Germany, where she served as a civil attorney for the army (1954–57).
Upon her return to the United States, O’Connor pursued private practice in Maryville, Arizona, becoming an assistant attorney general for the state (1965–69). In 1969 she was elected as a Republican to the Arizona Senate (1969–74), rising to the position of majority leader - the first woman in the United States to occupy such a position. She later was elected a Superior Court judge in Maricopa county, a post she held from 1975 to 1979, when she was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals in Phoenix. In July 1981 President Ronald Reagan nominated her to fill the vacancy left on the Supreme Court by the retirement of Justice Potter Stewart. Described by Reagan as a “person for all seasons,” O’Connor was confirmed unanimously by the Senate and was sworn in as the first female justice on September 25, 1981.
O’Connor quickly became known for her pragmatism and was considered, with Justice Anthony Kennedy, a decisive swing vote in the Supreme Court’s decisions. In such disparate fields as election law and abortion rights, she attempted to fashion workable solutions to major constitutional questions, often over the course of several cases.
In similar fashion, O’Connor’s views on abortion rights were articulated gradually. In a series of rulings, she signaled a reluctance to support any decision that would deny women the right to choose a safe and legal abortion. By “defecting” in part from the conservative majority in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989) - in which the Court upheld a Missouri law that prohibited public employees from performing or assisting in abortions not necessary to save a woman’s life and that required doctors to determine the viability of a fetus if it was at least 20 weeks old - she reduced the Court’s opinion to a plurality. Through her stewardship in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992), the Court refashioned its position on the right to abortion. The Court’s opinion, which O’Connor wrote with Justices Anthony Kennedy and David Souter, reaffirmed the constitutionally protected right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade (1973) but also lowered the standard that legal restrictions on abortion must meet in order to pass constitutional muster. After Casey, such laws would be considered unconstitutional only if they constituted an “undue burden” on women seeking to obtain an abortion.
In 2006 O’Connor retired from the Supreme Court and was replaced by Samuel Alito. She was the author of several books, including Lazy B (2002; cowritten with her brother, H. Alan Day), a memoir focusing on her family’s ranch, and Out of Order: Stories from the History of the Supreme Court (2013), a collection of anecdotes charting the genesis and maturation of the Supreme Court. O’Connor also wrote the children’s books Chico (2005) and Finding Susie (2009), both of which were based on her childhood experiences.
In a letter in 2018 she announced that she had been diagnosed with early-stage dementia and would withdraw from public life.
(Sandra loves ranch life. Most of all, she loves riding he...)
Religion
Sandra is a baptized member of The Episcopal Church.
Politics
As a moderate Republican, O'Connor tended to approach each case narrowly without arguing for sweeping precedents. She most frequently sided with the Court's conservative bloc; having the swing opinion in many decisions.
Views
In her decisions in election law she emphasized the importance of equal-protection claims (Shaw v. Reno (1993)), declared unconstitutional district boundaries that are “unexplainable on grounds other than race” (Bush v. Vera (1996)), and sided with the Court’s more liberal members in upholding the configuration of a congressional district in North Carolina created on the basis of variables including but not limited to race (Easley v. Cromartie (2001)).
O’Connor signaled a reluctance to support any decision that would deny women the right to choose a safe and legal abortion.
Quotations:
"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."
"The power I exert on the court depends on the power of my arguments, not on my gender."
"We have long since made clear that a state of war is not a blank check for the President when it comes to the rights of the Nation’s citizens."
"We pay a price when we deprive children of the exposure to the values, principles, and education they need to make them good citizens."
"The Establishment Clause prohibits government from making adherence to a religion relevant in any way to a person's standing in the political community."
"Statutes authorizing unreasonable searches were the core concern of the framers of the 4th Amendment."
"Having family responsibilities and concerns just has to make you a more understanding person."
"It is difficult to discern a serious threat to religious liberty from a room of silent, thoughtful schoolchildren."
"Each of us brings to our job, whatever it is, our lifetime of experience and our values."
"Yes, I will bring the understanding of a woman to the Court, but I doubt that alone will affect my decisions."
Membership
In 2008, O'Connor was made an honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa at the College of William and Mary.
Phi Beta Kappa
2008
Personality
O'Connor is a very fair woman.
Physical Characteristics:
In 1988, she was diagnosed with breast cancer; she underwent mastectomy and revealed about her treatment only in 1994. Many thought that she would resign from the court, but she battled cancer and continued to hold her seat.
In October 2018, O'Connor announced her effective retirement from public life after disclosing that she had been diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer's-like dementia.
Interests
Horse riding
Politicians
Ronald Reagan
Sport & Clubs
Tennis, golf
Connections
Sandra married John Jay O’Connor III on 20th December, 1952. Ever since their marriage, her husband was the driving force in their life. Together, the couple were blessed with three sons - the eldest Scott followed by Brian and Jay.
Her husband suffered from Alzheimer's disease for nearly 20 years, until his death in 2009, and she became involved in raising awareness of the disease. After retiring from the Court, O'Connor moved to Phoenix, Arizona.