Home > Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor (born March 26, 1930) has been an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 1981. She is the first woman to serve on the Court. Due to her case-by-case approach to jurisprudence and her relatively moderate political views, she has in recent years been the crucial swing vote of the Court.1 Her life and history
O'Connor was born in El Paso, Texas and grew up on a cattle ranch in southeastern Arizona. She later wrote a book about her childhood experiences on the ranch, "Lazy B," with her brother, H. Alan Day. She attended Stanford University, where she received her A.B. in economics in 1950. She continued at Stanford for her LL.B., graduating in two years (instead of the customary three), serving on the Law Review, and graduating third out of 102 in the class of which William Rehnquist was valedictorian.
In spite of her accomplishments at law school, no law firm in California was willing to hire a woman, although one firm did offer her a position as a legal secretary. So she turned to public service, taking a position as Deputy County Attorney of San Mateo County, CaliforniaSan Mateo County is a county located in the San Francisco Bay Area. It covers most of the San Francisco Peninsula just south of San Francisco and north of Santa Clara County. San Francisco International Airport is located at the northern end of the county from 1952-1953 and as a civilian attorney for Quartermaster Market Center, FrankfurtFrankfurt am Main [ˈfraŋkfʊrt] is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth largest city of Germany. Situated on the Main river, it has a population of approximately 650,000 (but about 2 million in its metropolitan a, GermanyThe Federal Republic of Germany ( German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland is one of the world's leading industrialized countries, located in the middle of the European Union. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea, to the east from 1954Events January events January 14 The Hudson Motor Car Company merges with Nash-Kelvinator forming the American Motors Corporation January 14 Marilyn Monroe weds Joe DiMaggio. January 15 Mau Mau leader Waruhiu Itote is captured in Kenya January 20 The Nati- 1957Events January January 2 San Francisco and Los Angeles stock exchanges merge. January 3 Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch January 4 After 69 years the last issue of Colliers magazine is published January 5 Russell Endean becomes t. From 1958Events January January 1 Treaty of Rome founding the EU is implemented January 4 Sputnik 1 falls to Earth from its orbit (launched on October 4 1957) January 8 14 year old Bobby Fischer wins the United States Chess Championship January 18 Armed Lumbee Nat- 1960Events January-February January 1 Independence of Cameroon January 9 Aswan High Dam construction begins in Egypt January 11 Chad declares its independence. January 14 Ralph Chubb, the gay poet and printer, dies at Fair Oak Cottage in Hampshire. January 23, she practiced law in the Maryvale area of the Phoenix metropolitan areaPhoenix metropolitan area also known as the Valley of the Sun is a metropolitan area that includes Phoenix, Arizona. The population of the Phoenix metropolitan area has increased by 54% from 1990 through 2000, compared to the average United States rate of, and served as Assistant Attorney General of Arizona from 1965- 1969. She was appointed to the Arizona State Senate in 1969 and was subsequently reelected to two two-year terms. In 1973, she became the first woman to serve as a state senate majority leader in any state. In 1975, she was elected judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court and served until 1979, when she was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals by a Democratic governor. During her time in Arizona state government, she served in all three branches. President Reagan, who had pledged during the 1980 presidential campaign to appoint the first woman to the Supreme Court, nominated her as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, replacing the retiring Potter Stewart. She was confirmed unanimously and took her seat September 25, 1981.
She married John Jay O'Connor III in 1952 and has three sons.
