A Tribute to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor

A TRIBUTE TO JUSTICE SANDRA DAY O’CONNOR

I am honored to deliver this tribute to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. I have observed her judicial career with great interest and great admiration. Justice O’Connor will, of course, go down in history as the first woman on the Supreme Court. That, in itself, is a remarkable achievement. But it is one thing to be the first to get somewhere, and quite another to lead and excel when one gets there. Justice O’Connor is not one to rest on her laurels-indeed, it is reputed that resting is one of the few activities at which she does not excel. For this reason, it seems to me appropriate that I focus my remarks today on her judicial style and achievements. Cases get to the Supreme Court because they are difficult and important. Justice O’Connor’s well-known reluctance to rely on simple per se rules recognizes that reality. Justice O’Connor epitomizes the judicial virtues needed to decide these difficult, important cases: she is meticulously prepared; attentive to the subtle details, complexities, and human interests on both sides of the cases; and ready to exercise legal, not political, judgment. Justice O’Connor is first and foremost a “lawyer’s judge.” Her refusal to embrace ideological dogmas has consistently frustrated those who adhere to what we might call the “traffic direction” school of law: left or right? Real lawyers know that law is not so one dimensional, and they are reminded of that fact frequently by justice O’Connor’s nuanced and