Sandra Day O’Connor, first woman to serve on US supreme court, dies aged 93
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Sandra Day O’Connor, the former US supreme court justice, died at age 93 in Phoenix on Friday of complications related to advanced dementia and a respiratory illness, the court said in a statement.
O’Connor was the first woman ever to serve on the US supreme court. She voted on a range of issues, including abortion, affirmative action and campaign finance.
O’Connor attended Stanford law school, graduating third in her class in 1952 and was the first woman to lead the Arizona state senate.
She served as a state court judge before being nominated to the country’s highest court by Ronald Reagan, later becoming a justice in 1981 after being unanmously confirmed at the age of 51. O’Connor later retired in 2006 at the age of 75.
In 2018, she announced that she was suffering from dementia. She had made her last public appearance two years before.
On the supreme court, her votes were key in cases about abortion, affirmative action and campaign finance as well as the Bush v Gore decision that effectively settled the disputed 2000 election in favour of George W Bush.
Her retirement and replacement by Samuel Alito, a conservative, shifted the court to the right.
After the 2010 Citizens United ruling allowing corporations to spend freely on elections for Congress and president, O’Connor told an audience: “Gosh, I step away for a couple of years and there’s no telling what’s going to happen.”
After Antonin Scalia died in 2016 and Senate Republicans blocked Barack Obama’s nominee to replace him, O’Connor protested.
“I think we need somebody there, now, to do the job, and let’s get on with it,” she said, a recommendation Republicans did not heed, holding the seat open until Donald Trump could choose Scalia’s successor, Neil Gorsuch.
Four women now sit on the supreme court. Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson make up the liberal bloc. Amy Coney Barrett is part of the 6-3 conservative majority.
After her retirement, O’Connor founded an education organization and served as a visiting federal appeals court judge.
Tributes for O’Connor poured in from politicians and public figures, with many applauding her role as a trailblazer on the US supreme court.
More details soon …