Sandra day o connor courthouse android#

Ironically, the only objection to her nomination came from fellow Republicans, an increasingly powerful and vocal faction of Christian conservatives who wanted to restore “family values” to America. By the time President Reagan had the opportunity to make good on his campaign promise to name a woman to the Supreme Court, O’Connor was a state judge––and so well-regarded and well-connected in Republican circles that it hardly mattered that she’d never heard a federal case. Tough, exacting, intensely competitive, O’Connor was also hard-working, gracious, funny, and warm––a combination that inspired both admiration and respect, and facilitated her steady ascension from precinct captain to Arizona’s Assistant Attorney General to Majority Leader of the Arizona Senate. It was through John that Sandra first became involved with Arizona’s Republican Party and embarked on the path that ultimately would lead her to the Supreme Court. Determined to have both a career and a family, she was fortunate to find a supportive partner in John O’Connor, whom she met when they were fellow students at Stanford Law. After graduating near the top of her class at Stanford Law School, she could not convince a single law firm to interview her, so she turned to volunteer work and public service. “She never got the message that there were limits to what she could accomplish,” biographer Linda Hirshman says. Based on First: Sandra Day O’Connor by Evan Thomas, this biographical portrait recounts the life of a pioneering woman who both reflected and shaped an era.īorn in 1930 in El Paso, Texas, O’Connor grew up on a cattle ranch in Arizona, where one was judged more by ability than gender. During her more than two decades on the Supreme Court, O’Connor was the critical swing vote on cases involving some of the 20th century’s most controversial issues, including race, gender and reproductive rights-and she cast the decisive vote in Bush v. Time Magazine’s cover proclaimed “Justice At Last,” and she received unanimous Senate approval. When President Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O’Connor as the first female justice in 1981, the announcement dominated the news. The program is also available on-demand through the PBS Video app.įor 191 years, the Supreme Court of the United States was populated only by men.

Sandra day o connor courthouse android#

You can stream WITF TV live on our website and through the PBS Video app on Roku, Apple TV and iPhone and Android smartphones. Watch Sandra Day O’Connor: The First on American Experience Monday, September 13 at 9pm on WITF. Now, it’s time to find better ways to interact with you and ensure we meet your high standards of what a credible media organization should be. The days of journalism’s one-way street of simply producing stories for the public have long been over.