Opinion |

Sandra Day O’Connor: A paragon of civility and moderation

Reading remembrances of the late Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, I’m transported to a bygone era, when civility, moderation and pragmatism mattered.

O’Connor died on Dec. 1 at the age of 93. She was the first woman to serve on the court, appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 to fulfill a campaign pledge. As Joshua Nevett of BBC News told the story, Reagan interviewed O’Connor for 15 minutes. He was charmed by her “southwestern disposition” and impressed by her sharp intellect, calling O’Connor a “woman for all seasons.”

Speaking to The Hill, justices who served with O’Connor — and others who followed her to the bench — reverentially described her qualities.

Justice Clarence Thomas said he felt lonely and isolated when he first arrived at the court in 1991, but for a while, rebuffed O’Connor’s frequent lunch invitations. He agreed to join her after learning that O’Connor made all the justices come to lunch. “She was the glue,” Thomas remarked, and “the reason this place was civil.”

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was 9 years old when O’Connor was appointed to the Supreme Court, noted the weight of being the first woman to serve. Rather than mimicking men, she said, Justice O’Connor decided to do it her own way, “feminine touches included, with all the world watching.” Barrett called it a remarkable show of self-confidence and independence.

Sandra Day was born in El Paso, Texas, in 1930. She grew up on the family’s cattle ranch, Lazy B, in southeastern Arizona. It had no running water or electricity. According to the National Women’s History Museum, family finances were tight — but the Days still subscribed to The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, and other periodicals, which young Sandra read with her mother.

O’Connor attended school in El Paso but returned to the ranch during summers. There, she learned to drive a truck, shoot a rifle and ride with the cowboys, imbuing the toughness she was known and admired for.

At age 16, O’Connor enrolled in Stanford University. After graduating with honors, she went on to Stanford Law School. Despite excelling (O’Connor graduated in the top 10 percent of her class), jobs weren’t forthcoming. She was told — point blank — that law firms don’t hire female attorneys. She went to work for little pay as a deputy attorney in San Mateo County.

Many years later, when O’Connor was unanimously confirmed to serve as the high court’s 102nd justice, she arrived there to find no women’s restroom.

O’Connor was on the bench for nearly 25 years. During her tenure, she refused to be pigeonholed by the left or right, becoming the crucial swing vote. As Michael Mathes of Agence France-Presse observed, it confounded both her critics and supporters. (O’Connor was a Republican.)

Mathes wrote, “As much as she infuriated liberals by siding with the majority that blocked the 2000 Florida vote recount and effectively handed the presidency to George W. Bush, she also outraged conservatives a few years later by helping to uphold the University of Michigan Law School’s right to run an affirmative action admissions policy.” 

Her willingness to collaborate and compromise with other justices affected the outcomes of numerous cases — most notably the 1992 decision to uphold Roe v. Wade, which protected abortion under the constitutional right to privacy. According to Sonja Anderson, a reporter for Smithsonian Magazine, O’Connor — who wanted abortion to remain legal — had never been satisfied with Roe’s use of pregnancy trimesters to define abortion restrictions.

So, she and two fellow justices engineered a new standard based on fetal viability (when a human fetus can live outside the womb, typically about 23-24 weeks of gestational age). It prohibited states from imposing an “undue burden” on a woman’s right to choose before that point. With this new standard, O’Connor was able to secure the vote of conservative Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who thought it balanced a woman’s rights and the state’s interests in protecting lives. With a five-justice majority, Roe was reaffirmed.

How ironic that when O’Connor died, her signature decision had been overturned, with Justice Samuel Alito — the man who succeeded her on the court — writing the majority opinion. Affirmative action was also overturned, and public confidence in the court has plummeted.

O’Connor’s preference for pragmatism over ideology — and her trailblazing, which inspired so many women — led the National Conflict Resolution Center to extend an invitation to O’Connor to be our National Peacemaker Award honoree. Because of a scheduling conflict, she respectfully declined.

Sandra Day O’Connor may have served on the Supreme Court for a quarter-century, but her legacy will endure for generations. Her reasoned voice is already missed.

Dinkin is president of the National Conflict Resolution Center, a San Diego-based group working to create solutions to challenging issues, including intolerance and incivility. To learn about NCRC’s programming, visit ncrconline.com.