Top Sandra Day O'Connor Quotes

Sandra Day O'Connor Biography

Sandra Day O'Connor (born March 26, 1930) is a retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving from her appointment in 1981 by Ronald Reagan to 2006. She is the first woman to serve on the Court.

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Sandra Day O'Connor Quotes

The freedom to criticize judges and other public officials is necessary to a vibrant democracy. The problem comes when healthy criticism is replaced with more destructive intimidation and sanctions.

Democracy, Healthy, Intimidation, Judging, Replaced, Sanctions

I have always thought that while it's wonderful to be the first to do something, you don't want to be the last.

Wonderful, Thought

The courts of this country should not be the places where resolution of disputes begins. They should be the places where the disputes end after alternative methods of resolving disputes have been considered and tried.

Alternatives, Begins, Conflict, Considered, Country, Resolution

Despite the encouraging and wonderful gains and the changes for women which have occurred in my lifetime, there is still room to advance and to promote correction of the remaining deficiencies and imbalances.

Imbalance, Rooms, Gains, Room, Wonderful, Women

[G]overnment endorsement. . . of religion. . . sends a message to nonadherents that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community, and an accompanying message to adherents that they are insiders, favored members of the political community.

Adherents, Church, Community, Political

It is true that as you have children, there are a good many months when you don't want to be working full-time. I agree that that's an issue.

Agree, Children, Good, Issue, Issues, Want

I sort of thought the framers of the Constitution were talking about the rights of individuals, not corporate entities.

Rights, Talking, Constitution, Corporate, Entities

Parents should continue to become more involved with their communities, and more involved in their children's education.

Children, Communities, Community, Education, Involved, Parent

I tried to decide each case based on the law and the Constitution.

Law, Constitution, Cases, Based, Decide

Historically, it took a long time before the court took any women law clerks. Finally, it did, but the numbers have never matched very effectively the percentages of law graduates out of graduating classes. We have far more than we ever did before and it's continued to grow, but it isn't a nice match yet.

Class, Classes, Clerks, Law, Nice, Took

You have to answer the question, like it or not. And the questions deserve a valid legal response, even if the response isn't one that will be easily understood. You have an obligation as a member of the court to do what you are bound to do under federal law, even if it isn't an attractive resolution from a public standpoint.

Answer, Answers, Bound, Deserve, Law, Resolution

If I stumbled badly in doing the job, I think it would have made life more difficult for women, and that was a great concern of mine and still is.

Badly, Great Day, Job, Jobs, Stumbled, Thinking

I had become increasingly concerned in recent years about the lack of civics education in our nation's schools. In recent years, the schools have stopped teaching it. And it's unfortunate.

Civics, Increasingly, School, Teaching, Unfortunate, Years

Slaying the dragon of delay is no sport for the short-winded.

Dragon, Leadership, Procrastination, Slaying, Sport, Sports

If a State refused to let religious groups use facilities open to others, then it would demonstrate not neutrality but hostility toward religion.

Christian, Groups, Refused, Religious, Toward

I think the important thing about my appointment is not that I will decide cases as a woman, but that I am a woman who will get to decide cases.

Inspirational, Thinking, Important, Decide, Cases, Woman

What was a problem was the excessive amount of media attention to the appointment of the first woman and everything she did. Everywhere that Sandra went, the press was sure to go. And that got tiresome; it was stressful.

Appointment, Attention, Excessive, Firsts, Media, Stressful

The fact is that knowledge about the Constitution and the Court is not something that is handed down through the gene pool; every generation has to learn it. And I'm not sure the recent generations have done that good a job of learning about it.

Done, Constitution, Pool, Learning, Down

The abortion cases produced an enormous amount of mail to my chambers, vastly more than to the other chambers, I am sure. I sometimes thought there wasn't a woman in the United States who didn't write me a letter on one side or the other of that issue.

Abortion, Issue, Issues, States, Thought, Writing

We don't accomplish anything in this world alone.

Accomplish, Alone, Kwanzaa, Life, World

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Sandra Day O'Connor Biography

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