Justice Sandra Day O’Connor: Token or Triumph from a Feminist Perspective

JUSTICE SANDRA DAY O’CONNOR: TOKEN OR TRIUMPH FROM A FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE

INTRODUCTION

When Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was sworn in as the 102nd Justice of the United States Supreme Court,1 she made history. O’Connor was the first woman to attain a seat on the Court in its 199 years of existence.2 She represented a symbolic reward for nearly 200 years of struggle by women for political and social recognition in America. Feminists3 applauded not only her symbolic achievement• but also the potential substan tive effect she could have on women’s ongoing legal battles. O’Connor gained entry into the most powerful and prominent judicial entity in the nation and would have a tremendous op-

N.Y. Times, Sept. 26, 1981, at 8, col. 1. Shortly after Justice Potter Stewart of fered his resignation from the Supreme Court in May, 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced his selection of Judge Sandra O’Connor of Arizona as Stewart’s replacement in July. She was approved 99-0 in the Senate and took her seat on the Supreme Court in October, 1981. For reaction to her nomination, see A Woman for the Court, NEWSWEEK, July 20, 1981, at 16; The Brethren’s First Sister, TIME, July 20, 1981, at 8.

The only other time a woman was considered for a position on the Supreme Court was during the New Deal-World War II era of Presidents Roosevelt and Truman. See Cook, Women as Supreme Court Candidates, 65 JUDICATURE 314 (1981-82) for a comparison of Judge O’Connor to Judge Florence Allen, the sole female