Sandra Day O’Connor first woman appointed into U.S. Supreme Court is dead
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The Supreme Court in a statement on Friday cited the jurist’s cause of death as “complications related to advanced dementia, probably Alzheimer’s, and a respiratory illness.”
Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to to be appointed as justice into the U.S. Supreme Court has died at the age of 93.
PM NEWS reports that the Supreme Court in a statement on Friday cited the jurist’s cause of death as “complications related to advanced dementia, probably Alzheimer’s, and a respiratory illness.”
O’Connor, born on March 26, 1930 was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006.
A moderate conservative, O’Connor was known for her precisely researched opinions. Nominated by late ex-President Ronald Reagan, she was considered a swing vote for the Rehnquist Court and the first four months of the Roberts Court.
Prior to O’Connor’s tenure on the Court, she was a judge and an elected official in Arizona, serving as the first female majority leader of a state senate as the Republican leader in the Arizona Senate.
Upon her nomination to the Court, O’Connor was confirmed unanimously by the Senate. On July 1, 2005, she announced her intention to retire, effective upon the confirmation of a successor.
Samuel Alito was nominated to take her seat in October 2005 and joined the Court on January 31, 2006.
O’Connor most frequently sided with the Court’s conservative bloc but demonstrated an ability to side with the Court’s liberal members.
She often wrote concurring opinions that sought to limit the reach of the majority holding. Her majority opinions in landmark cases include Grutter v. Bollinger and Hamdi v. Rumsfeld.
She wrote in part the per curiam majority opinion in Bush v. Gore and was one of three co-authors of the lead opinion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
During her time on the Court, some publications ranked O’Connor among the most powerful women in the world.
After retiring, she succeeded Henry Kissinger as the Chancellor of the College of William & Mary. On August 12, 2009, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.
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