Courts

The Touching Reactions Of The Supreme Court To News Of Sandra Day O'Connor's Failing Health

A fitting farewell to the public life of a trailblazer.

By  
on

(Photo by YURI GRIPAS/AFP/Getty Images)

Yesterday, retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor announced that she’d be pulling away from public life after a diagnosis of dementia, likely the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. As one might expect, the current and formers justices of the Supreme Court have had some touching reactions.

The statements from each of the justices really reflect their personality and their relationship to Justice O’Connor. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s statement poignantly referenced the importance of Justice O’Connor’s historic role as the first woman on the Court:

Justice O’Connor made a surprise appearance one night in the Shakespeare Theatre’s production of Henry the Fifth. Playing the part of Isabel, Queen of France, she spoke the famous line: “Hap’ly, a woman’s voice may do some good.” Sandra Day O’Connor’s voice has done enormous good in the pursuit of justice for all in our land and world.

Justice Kagan talked about Justice O’Connor as a role model for her own career:

Sandra Day O’Connor became a Supreme Court Justice as I was preparing to go to law school, and she has served as an inspiration to me ever since. In shattering glass ceiling after glass ceiling, she showed how women could take part as equals in the legal profession.

But it is Justice Breyer’s words, written to Justice O’Connor, rather than about her, that are getting the most attention. Reading his statement you get the best sense of what it must have been like to serve on the Court with her.

Sponsored

Like all of your colleagues and millions of Americans I was sorry indeed to learn of your decision not to participate further in public life. Your letter brought back so many memories. I remembered those years, so happy for me, when you were an active colleague on this Court. I learned so very much from you. For example, that common sense and law are compatible; that listening to others helps; that head and heart can be combined; and, that, leaving aside the matter of judicial decisions, much else can be done to help others in this Country if you put your mind to it – promoting civic education for example. I’m very glad that you decided, after retirement, to continue to devote your enormous energy and talent to building up iCivics — to the point where it has become the critical resource it is today for those committed to improving civics education. I agree with you that few things are more important than teaching the next generation of Americans how their Government works and why they must participate in it if it is to work successfully.

I miss your warmth, your sense of humor, that Western touch, and of course your legal mind. You, my friend, will take your place in history, not just as the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court, but also as one of its greatest Justices.

What a lovely goodbye to the public life of Sandra Day O’Connor.

headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

Sponsored

Topics

, , , ,