Sandra Day O'Connor news stories on Newser

Husband of Retired Justice O'Connor Dies

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:26:31 CST

John J. O'Connor III, the husband of retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, died today at age 79 due to complications arising from Alzheimer's disease. John O'Connor, himself a lawyer, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's nearly two decades ago. His condition deteriorated markedly in mid-decade and when she announced her...

Roberts Court Disappoints O'Connor

Kevin Spak — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:12:38 CDT

Sandra Day O’Connor is none too pleased with the conservative turn the Supreme Court has taken since she retired. Asked at a conference how she felt about the court overturning or undermining rulings she’d helped make on issues like abortion rights, campaign finance and race, she replied, “What would you...

Justices Prepare for Newest 'Family Member'

Jason Farago — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 07:32:21 CDT

When Sonia Sotomayor takes the bench for the first time next week, the Supreme Court will never be the same—as justice after justice tells C-Span in a rare interview program, each new member transforms the court's composition. John Roberts says that he looks at the bench "like people look...

Quietly, O'Connor Fills In on Appellate Courts

Jason Farago — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:00:23 CDT

Three years after retiring from the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O'Connor is still on the bench—in federal appellate courts across the country, where the high court's first woman justice has quietly been filling in as a substitute judge. O'Connor has heard nearly 80 cases and written more than a...

Medals of Freedom Will Go to Milk, Kennedy, Poitier

Harry Kimball — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:15:01 CDT

This year's Medal of Freedom recipients share a capacity to change the world, President Obama said today in naming the eclectic group. Among the 16 honorees are Sen. Ted Kennedy, slain gay-rights activist Harvey Milk, actor Sidney Poitier, tennis great Billie Jean King, and retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day...

Common Tie for Women of Supreme Court? Nancy Drew

Amelia Atlas — Sun, 31 May 2009 08:19:00 CDT

The women of the Supreme Court—Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and now likely Sonia Sotomayor—may come from wildly different backgrounds, but they all shared a common childhood pastime: curling up with a Nancy Drew novel. What was it about that wholesome teenage detective? wonders Mary Jo Murphy...

O'Connor: I'm Not a 'Feminist'

Drew Nelles — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 13:31:28 CDT

Sandra Day O’Connor says the reason she hoped a woman would be named to replace her on the Supreme Court is that it's easier not to be the only woman on the nation's highest bench. As the first female justice, she tells Deborah Solomon in the New York Times that...

Can Video Games Save the World?

Harry Kimball — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 05:13:55 CDT

A small group of educators and activists is championing the use of video games for more than just entertainment, the Washington Post reports. “I don't think games have to be fun,” one key organizer said. “I think games have to be engaging.” New titles in the so-called serious game genre...

O'Connor's Imprint Fades

Nick McMaster — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:15:04 CDT

Even as Sandra Day O’Connor public profile as an advocate for Alzheimer’s disease research grows, the legal imprint of the first woman Supreme Court justice is fading, USA Today reports. Since her departure, the Roberts court has shifted course on abortion and retreated from positions supported by her swing vote...