Courts

Sandra Day O'Connor Was No Fan Of Samuel Alito

The first woman on the Supreme Court was incredibly disillusioned with her successor.

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(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

She was furious about Alito. She viewed him as a betrayal of all her accomplishments. She told me: ‘The last thing you needed was a fifth Catholic man.’

–an excerpt from Evan Thomas’s forthcoming book “First” (affiliate link), which details the life and times of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman on the Supreme Court. Here, Thomas quotes former acting solicitor general Walter Dellinger, describing a 2007 conversation he had with O’Connor about Justice Samuel Alito, who succeeded her on the high court. Thomas also writes that O’Connor once told a friend that Alito was aloof and “has no sense of humor.”

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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