Sandra Day O'Connor

Sandra Day O’Connor:

(March 26, 1930 – December 1, 2023)

O’Connor became the first female Supreme Court Justice in 1981. Before her success she worked for free at the San Mateo County Attorney’s Office as a deputy county attorney. Shortly after this in the 1950s she opened a firm of her own with a friend in Phoenix. 

In 1965 O’Connor began her duty as the Assistant Attorney General in Phoenix, Arizona. Not too long after embarking on this professional journey she gained a seat on the Senate in order to fill an empty chair but did in fact get to stay in her role through election in 1970. After this election to the Senate she served two terms. Just five years after winning her first election into the Senate she was elected to join the Superior Court of Maricopa County. She was then appointed to sit on the Arizona Supreme Court of Appeals in 1979. Within the two short years that O’Connor served in this Court she was nominated by the current president, Reagan, to become the first ever female Justice in 1981. Not surprisingly, she was immediately accepted by the Senate and took action as a Justice. 

The largest fight O’Connor contributed to the women’s rights movement was her first case as a Supreme Court Justice. This case, Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan, pertained to gender discrimination which ultimately held that the nursing school being sued must admit men in order to get rid of the stereotypes surrounding nursing. She also was the ultimate deciding vote on the infamous Roe v. Wade in order to reaffirm it. She ultimately stepped down from the bench in 2006 but her impact on society didn’t stop there. From then on she advocated for civics and government to be taught to young scholars.