Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who was the first woman to serve on the High Court, was honored by President Biden and other political figures at her funeral on Tuesday. O’Connor passed away in Phoenix on Dec. 1 at the age of 93.
O’Connor was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan and confirmed by the Senate unanimously, becoming the first woman justice in the court’s 191-year history (four women now sit on the Supreme Court). At her funeral, O’Connor was described as a ‘trailblazing jurist who served as a role model for millions by breaking down gender barriers for women across the legal profession,’ who served on the Supreme Court for more than two decades. President Biden and Chief Justice John Roberts were among those who eulogized the late O’Connor, and all nine sitting justices, as well as retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, attended Tuesday’s services at the National Cathedral in Washington.
Said Biden: “One need not agree with all her decisions in order to recognize that her principles were deeply held and of the highest order, and that her desire for civility was genuine and her trust in the capacity of human institutions to make life better is what this world was abiding. And how she embodied such attributes under such pressure and scrutiny helped empower generations of women in every part of American life … It was a person for all seasons who we saw in that hearing, and the Americans and the world would see through her extraordinary service as a justice and, as I might add, as a citizen,” while adding that O’Connor “broke down the barriers in the legal and political world, and the nation’s consciousness. May God bless Sandra Day O’Connor, an American pioneer.”
Roberts served briefly on the court with O’Connor following his appointment in 2005; he was originally selected to replace O’Connor on the bench, but eventually succeeded Chief Justice William Rehnquist following his death in 2005. Said Roberts of O’Connor: “That distance is a measure of time, but it’s also a measure of Justice O’Connor’s life and work. In nearly a quarter century on the court, she was a strong, influential, and iconic jurist. Her leadership shaped the legal profession, making it obvious that judges are both women and men. The time when women were not on the bench seemed so far away because Justice O’Connor was so good when she was on the bench.”
O’Connor retired from the Supreme Court in 2006 at the age of 75 to take care of her husband following his Alzheimer’s diagnosis. She was awarded with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, by President Barack Obama in 2009. O’Connor died of complications related to advanced dementia and a respiratory illness.
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