First woman to serve on US Supreme Court dies

The first woman Supreme Court justice, Sandra Day O’Connor, has died at the age of 93.

O’Connor died on Friday morning in Phoenix, Arizona. The high court cited ‘complications related to advanced dementia, probably Alzheimers, and a respiratory illness’.

She as diagnosed with dementia in October 2018. At the time, she wrote in a letter: ‘As this condition has progressed, I am no longer able to participate in public life.’

As the first woman to serve on the highest court in the country, O’Connor forged a path for females in the male-dominated judiciary field.

She pushed for the rights of citizenship and ideological compromise.

O’Connor was appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1981, calling her ‘truly a person for all seasons’.

During her confirmation hearing, O’Connor, at the time 51, said: ‘The proper role of the judiciary is one of interpreting and applying the law – not making it.’

O’Connor wrote the Supreme Court’s landmark decision that upheld affirmative action in college admissions.

She retired in 2006 after serving 24 years.

Chief Justice John Roberts stated that O’Connor ‘blazed an historic trail as our Nation’s first female Justice’.

‘She met that challenge with undaunted determination, indisputable ability, and engaging candor,’ he said.

‘We at the Supreme Court mourn the loss of a beloved colleague, a fiercely independent defender of the rule of law, and an eloquent advocate for civics education, and we celebrate her enduring legacy as a true public servant and patriot.’

Five other women have served on the high court: Ruth Bader Ginsburg who died in 2020 at the age of 87, and Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson who are currently on the bench.

O’Connor is regarded as one of the most influential women in US history.

‘The law was a male thing. The Supreme Court was a male place. Merely her presence there as a woman changed everything,’ said O’Connor’s official biographer Evan Thomas.

‘She was a feminist, but she didn’t call herself that. She knew that to get along with these men who were waiting for her to fail, she had to be careful, but at the same time tough and strong. It was a hard balance to strike, but she did.’

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