Among themselves, the justices also tend to avoid personal vitriol, and they owe that norm in part to O’Connor’s collegial influence on the institution during her years on the Court.Īlthough she has fallen largely out of sight, O’Connor provides a reassuring reference point during a time of dispiriting public affairs. Even in a time of bitter political division, Chief Justice John Roberts has crafted compromises and defied expectations in what seems to be an effort to demonstrate that the Court itself will not fracture hopelessly along partisan lines. The realignment since O’Connor’s departure has left a void in the pragmatic middle spaces on many issues, yet the Court still maintains civil exchanges relative to the woeful state of the discourse in the political branches of the government and throughout our public life. In their most recent terms, the justices faced contentious questions about reproductive rights, discrimination, immigration, and executive power. And across more than 300 majority opinions, O’Connor both achieved consensus among her colleagues and retained the public’s high regard.įast forward to the present Court. Over the next 25 years, she cast the decisive votes to resolve the most emotional debates that came before the Court, including a series of abortion and affirmative action cases. Flashbulbs fired when she entered any event in Washington, and she received 60,000 letters from admirers in the first year after her confirmation.
#FACTS ABOUT SANDRA DAY O CONNOR FULL#
She was confirmed by the full Senate 99-0 and emerged from the proceedings as the first celebrity Supreme Court justice. When she appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1981, 100 million Americans watched on television, about the same number of people that tuned in for Super Bowl LIV on February 2, 2020. In her day, however, O’Connor touched a chord that resonated with a wide and varied audience. women’s national soccer team angered some vocal groups in the United States last year while they triumphed in the World Cup competition.
#FACTS ABOUT SANDRA DAY O CONNOR PROFESSIONAL#
Entertainers and professional athletes often feel compelled to “choose sides.” Even the members of the U.S. Journalists and nightly news anchors no longer serve as shared sources of information. This problem extends beyond the familiar, rancorous spaces occupied by the branches of government. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who joined the Supreme Court as the first woman justice in 1981 and retired in 2006, may be the last such public person - an icon able to transcend partisan polarization. It was even possible to earn the trust of those with whom one disagreed. Once upon a time in American public life, there were figures who achieved universal admiration.
0 kommentar(er)
