Sandra Day O Connor Quotes

• I am deeply honored to have been nominated for a position on the Supreme Court. And I an humbled to have been nominated for the seat that is now held by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

  Samuel Alito

  Justice, Court, Position

  U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Judge Samuel Alito's Nomination to the Supreme Court, www.washingtonpost.com. January 9, 2006.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• If you look at the record and the enviable record which Sandra Day O'Connor has written, you find she was the fifth and decisive vote to safeguard Americans' right to privacy, to require our courtrooms to grant access to the disabled, to allow the federal government to pass laws to protect the environment, to preserve the right of universities to use affirmative action, to ban the execution of children in America.

  Dick Durbin

  Children, Law, America

  U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Judge Samuel Alito's Nomination to the Supreme Court, www.washingtonpost.com. January 9, 2006.

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• I owe a debt of gratitude to two other living Justices. Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg paved the way for me and so many other women in my generation. Their pioneering lives have created boundless possibilities for women in the law. I thank them for their inspiration and also for the personal kindnesses they have shown me.

  Elena Kagan

  Gratitude, Kindness, Inspiration

  Opening Statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee at the USSC Justice Confirmation Hearings, delivered 28 June 2010

  16 Copy quote

  Show source

• Sandra Day O'Connor - once she said that there are - there were no public schools in America until the 18th century, and she overlooked my alma mater because we started - I say we - in 1635. And among the people who went there - and they're on - the walls in the auditorium, the names are: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Cotton Mather, Benjamin Franklin, except he split when he was 10 years old to go to work.

  Nat Hentoff

  Wall, School, Years

  Source: thedailyhatch.org

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has been a pioneer, and her dedicated service on the Supreme Court will never be forgotten. And the people of the country certainly owe her a great debt for the service that she has provided.

  Samuel Alito

  Country, People, Justice

  Opening Statement to Senate Judiciary Committee, delivered 9 January 2006

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Justice [Sandra Day] O'Connor has been the critical decisive vote on many issues that go to the heart of who we are as a nation.

  Dick Durbin

  Heart, Issues, Justice

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Not that I've always agreed with what she said - far from it - but Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has been properly lauded, in my view, as a judge who approached her duties with open-mindedness and with a sensitivity that affects her decisions would have on everyday, ordinary people.

  Joe Biden

  Views, Judging, People

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• She [Justice Sandra Day O'Connor], unlike, Judge Bork, did not think that being on the court would be an "intellectual feast," to quote Judge [Robert Heron] Bork.

  Joe Biden

  Thinking, Judging, Justice

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Justice [Sandra Day] O'Connor also brought balance to our highest court; most recently, as been repeated many times, when she cautioned about how war doesn't give a blank check.

  Joe Biden

  War, Giving, Justice

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Justice Sandra Day O'Connor decisions reflect, in my view, that our society has worked very hard to improve the workaday world, to open doors to workers confronted by powerful employers and for women facing harassment and stereotypes.

  Joe Biden

  Powerful, Doors, Views

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Arizonians are deeply proud of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's service to this country. She will always be remembered by Arizonans and all Americans as an extraordinary public servant.

  Jon Kyl

  Country, Justice, Proud

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I'm one that believes that Samuel Alito appointment on the Supreme Court is a pivotal appointment. And because he replace Sandra Day O'Connor and because she was the fifth vote on 148 cases, you well could be a very key and decisive vote.

  Dianne Feinstein

  Believe, Keys, Vote

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Justice Sandra Day O'Connor brought critical qualities to the high court that not everybody thinks are qualities - I happen to think they are - her pragmatism and her state craft.

  Joe Biden

  Thinking, Justice, Quality

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• As Justice Sandra Day O'Connor stated, even a state of war is not a blank check for a president to do whatever he wants.

  Edward Kennedy

  War, Justice, President

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• The President must be true to his word. He must keep his faith with the folks who elected him twice. In other words, he must replace Sandra Day O'Connor with a strict constructionist. The president has a God-given opportunity to change the balance on the Supreme Court. On issue after issue—abortion, sodomy, public display of the Ten Commandments—O'Connor has sided with the court's liberal bloc. Time and again, Justice O'Connor and her colleagues have used the Constitution as an excuse to force weird social experiments on the nation.

  Rick Scarborough

  Opportunity, Issues, Justice

  4 Copy quote

• Abortion, however, is a big threshold issue for me because the dominant majority of people in my state are pro-choice. I ran as a pro-choice Democrat, and she fills Sandra Day O'Connor's shoes, and they are critical shoes.

  Dianne Feinstein

  Shoes, Issues, People

  "New Questions on Miers' Roe Views / She Reportedly Says She Doesn't Recall Ever Discussing Case" by Carolyn Lochhead, www.sfgate.com. October 18, 2005.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Justice Sandra Day O'Connor serves as a model Supreme Court justice, widely recognized as a jurist with practical values, a sense of the consequences of the legal decisions being made by the Supreme Court.

  Patrick Leahy

  Justice, Decision, Made

  Patrick Leahy's opening statements at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on judge Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court, www.washingtonpost.com. January 9, 2006.

  11 Copy quote

  Show source

• I regret that some on the extreme right have been so critical of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and have adamantly opposed the naming of a successor who shares her judicial philosophy and qualities. And their criticism actually reflects poorly upon them.

  Patrick Leahy

  Regret, Philosophy, Justice

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• [Sandra Day O'Connor] is a justice whose graciousness and sense of duty fuels her continued service, even agreeing to serve more than six months after her retirement date.

  Patrick Leahy

  Retirement, Justice, Six Months

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Justice [Sandra Day] O'Connor has been a guardian of the protections the Constitution provides the American people. She's come to provide balance and a check on government intrusion into our personal privacy and freedoms.

  Patrick Leahy

  Government, Justice, People

  "The Situation: Monday, January 9". The Samuel Alito Hearings, transcripts.cnn.com. January 9, 2006.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• She [Justice sandra Day O'Connor] rejected the [George] Bush administration's claim that it could indefinitely detain a United States citizen. She upheld the fundamental principle of judicial review over the exercise of government power.

  Patrick Leahy

  Exercise, Government, Justice

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• She [Justice sandra Day O'Connor] wrote - and this is one we should all remember - she wrote that even war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation's citizens. She held that even this president is not above the law.

  Patrick Leahy

  War, Rights, Law

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

  6 Copy quote

  Show source

• Her [Jurdge Sandra Day O'Connor] judgment has also been critical in protecting our environmental rights. She joined in 5-4 majorities affirming reproductive freedom and religious freedom and the Voting Rights Act.

  Patrick Leahy

  Religious, Rights, Voting

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• As we have seen from Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's example, even one justice can profoundly alter the meaning of those words for our citizens. Even one justice can deeply affect the rights and liberties of the American people.

  Edward Kennedy

  Rights, People, Justice

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I just have that sense this is the reason we got Sandra Day O'Connor on the Court in the first place is because Ronald Reagan was running for President.

  Patricia Ireland

  Running, House, President

  7 Copy quote