Speeches, Interviews, & Writing

Sandra Day O’Connor Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Sandra Day O’Connor Thank you very much, Dean Knowles, Mrs. Carter, and Mrs. Johnson, and Ms. Powell and participants and guess this is a very special event. The bicentennial of our Constitution has been the subject of more than a year of celebrations and observances. It has produced some dramatic changes. For me and my colleagues on the Supreme Court. It was in order to better prepare for the 200th birthday of our national charter that Chief Justice Warren burger stepped down. One of my colleagues and a former Arizona William Rehnquist has become our 16th Chief Justice Antonin Scalia, former Court of Appeals judge has joined us and next week, in a very few days, we will also be joined on the court by Court of Appeals judge Anthony Kennedy. Now it seems natural for supreme court justices to be enthusiastic about the bicentennial of the document. We spend so many of our waking hours thinking and arguing about so many pages of the United States reports writing about but it is perhaps not so common for most people today to examine our Constitution. Although 200 years ago, most Americans debated the merits of the proposed Constitution. Recent polls indicate that today almost half of our citizens do not know why the constitution was drafted, nor even what is meant by the Bill of Rights 75% erroneously believe the Constitution guarantees of free public education 49% erroneous Lee believe the President can suspend the constitution

Sandra Day O’Connor Thank you. Thank you President Wefald and Chairman Slawson, students and friends of Kansas State University. john and i are absolutely delighted to be here and then happen with you at the university. And you’re showing some very beautiful weather to us which we like do much better than in Washington DC. And of course this is the home state of to distinguish senators and one of them senator Nancy cast bomb has encouraged me for several years now to try to accept the invitation to deliver the lecture name for her father. Now I confess that I have one keen disappointment and connection with this visit. I accepted your invitation too late to meet Mr. Landon who passed away last year. And I wish that I had had the foresight to have accepted a couple of years ago and have the chance to meet him. He, through the lectures has brought some wonderful people to the university. You don’t have to go to Washington to hear the nation’s leaders they come to you right here in Manhattan. It’s an interesting time around the nation, with the presidential primary elections taking place, and international treaties being debated in the Senate. It’s also a time when we have witnessed the nomination and confirmation process at work in selecting a new justice to fail our supreme court bench and when I returned to Washington, DC this week, on Thursday, I will participate in the ceremony, during which Justice Kennedy will be installed to round out our bench again at a full nine. All

Sandra Day O’Connor I’m delighted to help open this second National Conference on court management. Over the next few days, you’re going to examine how to strengthen court management’s contribution to the performance of the American judicial system. The insights you gain here, combined with your strong implementation efforts, when you go home, will benefit all of us for years to come. People look at the American judicial system in many different ways. There’s considerable attention paid to the court on which I now sit, for better or for worse. But those who see the administration of justice and the United States only in terms of the work of the Supreme Court, only in terms of what some people call the broad and cutting issues of the law. Those people really have a very narrow focus on the American judicial system. I know as a former state court judge, that the amount of and the quality of justice in this country are determined and large measure by the day to day workings of our trial courts, far away from the Supreme Court and in fact, far away from most appellate courts generally. The great majority of cases filed in the courts of the United States are filed and are limited in specialized jurisdiction courts. Day in and day out, those courts and the general jurisdiction trial courts decide what contracts will be enforced, who will pay damages, who will be punished for criminal acts. The appellate courts day in and day out, review the trial courts work and refine the many elements

Sandra Day O’Connor Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, Chancellor Dennis, for a very warm introduction. And all of you are getting your exercise jumping up and down and judge the Pyro, whom I’m so thrilled to be here to honor today. And Chief Judge, slow vector and Chief Justice nicks and other wonderful and distinguished judges and citizens and lawyers and members and friends of this Philadelphia Bar Association. This is really a special day, even for a cowgirl from from Arizona. And I’m so very honored that you have decided to establish a Sandra Day O’Connor award. I’m honored that you chose to give this award my name. And more importantly, I’m delighted that you have taken the opportunity to recognize the significant accomplishments of women in the law with the publication of this marvelous book with the initiation of this award, and especially to recognize those women who like judge Shapiro have advocated the Advancement of Women in the profession, and the community and who have a reputation for being mentors to other women. Historically, encourage men or women to pursue careers and the legal profession was rare in the early part of the century, called Columbia Law School committee member George Templeton strong, wrote in his diary application from three infatuated young women to Columbia Law School. No woman shall degrade herself by practicing law in New York, especially if I can save her. Most of the early women legal pioneers faced a profession in a society

Host
Ladies and gentlemen, the conference. we’re privileged this morning to be graced by the presence of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who, through her graciousness, has agreed to participate and be with us in this our work today.
Justice O’Connor, having been born in Texas, and educated in California, finally decided to settle them, Arizona or she built an outstanding body of work in public service service to her community. She was an assistant attorney general of Arizona in the late 60s before serving on the State Senate, or eventually she became the Minority Leader of the Senate. In 1975, she left the state senator of Arizona, one election to the Maricopa County Superior Court soon elevated to the Court of Appeals in 1975 and served there until 1981. On July 7, that year, President Reagan nominated Justice O’Connor to the Supreme Court. She took her oath of office on September 25 of that year. And for more about this remarkable person. I command to your attention justice economist VI, which appears in the material for the conference. That way, 13 years since her elevation to the nation’s highest court, she has distinguished herself as a jurist, as we all know. Her superb judge and superb mind have been the hallmarks of our service, to the bar, to the profession, and to our country. Ladies and gentlemen, I asked you to join with me in welcoming Justice Sandra Day O’Connor O’Connor, Associate Justice, the Supreme Court of the United States.

Sandra Day O’Connor
Thank you.

Sandra Day O’Connor Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome to the second half of the lecture series. I happen to be very enthusiastic about the lecture series sponsored by these two organizations. We justices love our history. So I’m here to learn a little more along with you tonight. Our lecture this evening is Professor Philip pallidum of the University of Kansas. He is the author of five books dealing with the Civil War period in our nation’s history, and numerous published articles. No one is better qualified than he to participate in this lecture series about the Supreme Court during the Civil War period. He will speak to us tonight about Chief Justice Taney President Lincoln and the constitutional conversation. Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney was from Calvert County, Maryland. I think I was asked to introduce the speaker tonight because I believe I am not only justice sense Chief Justice Taney to live in the state of Maryland. But be that as it may, he married and key, the sister of Francis Scott Key who wrote the Star Spangled Banner. Taney came from an agrarian family. In fact, I think they grew tobacco, and he inherited some slaves. Boom, he laid her set free, but he believed that the federal government had no authority to limit or abolish slavery. He thought that authority resided only in the States. He was a federalist and when the Fed Roll a party fell into disarray. He became a Jacksonian Democrat, which led him time to his appointment as Attorney General of

Sandra Day O’Connor My wonderful colleague, Justice Ginsburg, and judge green and President Sabbath, and the other judges who were kind enough to be here tonight for this event. And all the distinguished guests who are here, including one of the two women on the Supreme Court of Israel, and half the membership of the most distinguished organization in the area, the male auxiliary of the United States Supreme Court. If you think I was happy when Justice Ginsburg was appointed, You Oughta Know how happy my husband was. Well, it’s a special treat to participate in this particular meeting of the women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia. And the foundation, as well. And to join you here tonight to honor my newest colleague, Justice Ginsburg. And to look out at this audience tonight, which includes so many distinguished women in the legal profession, gives me a sense of achievement and a change. When I first started to practice law in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1958, the women lawyers in that area would gather occasionally to have lunch with justice Laurin on Lockwood, the first woman to serve on the Arizona supreme Court, we could, and we did all fit around one round table for eight. But it was a start. And our numbers have multiplied in Arizona and across the land. I’m often asked whether it makes a difference that we have women judges, and whether the Justice dispensed by women judges is somehow different than that, that we would expect from men and answering such questions.

Sandra Day O’Connor Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Sandra Day O’Connor Mrs. Parker, Mary, Dell prints law, Justice Powell, councillors, directors, members and friends of Stratford Hall. What a treat it is for john and for me to visit this beautiful place. We wanted to for 13 years ever since we got to this area. But this was the first time we’d had a request we just couldn’t refuse. That is to give a little tribute to Lewis Powell. And how can I say no to that? So here we are. And we’re, of course, enchanted with this beautiful farm, its surroundings and and all that it has to offer. It’s my job tonight to tell you a little bit about Lewis Powell. And you know, a lot of it already, ’cause it’s in your programs, and it’s in the background. And I hope a lot of you have already read the biography of Lewis Powell, but I’ll say more about that later. You know, Justice Powell, was the 99th justice on the Supreme Court. Perhaps he was the most reluctant justice. It’s reported that on the day in January 1972, when Lewis Powell was sworn in, together with William Rehnquist, my law school classmate that Nan Rehnquist asked Justice Powell’s wife, Jo, if it wasn’t the most exciting day in her life. And Jo reportedly said, “No, it’s the worst day of my life. I’m about to cry.”

Lewis Powell had turned down an appointment to the Supreme Court in 1969. He was prepared to turn it down again in 1972. Luckily for the Court, and for the nation, Lewis Powell reluctantly agreed to accept the

Unknown Speaker And appellate levels in our home state of Arizona and who became the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Unknown Speaker Thank you. Sandra Day O’Connor Thank you, Larry. It is a real treat to be here tonight with so many luminaries from the state court system, mile home. And Chief Judge Peters Chief Justice Peters is going to be remembered for many things. For her life as a legal scholar, as an author, as a state Supreme Court Chief Justice as a member and volunteer for many charitable organizations, and she’s also going to be remembered as an uncommon Lee nice person, as a loving wife and mother and as a friend. And today, we know two new jobs for which Chief Justice Peters will be remembered as chair of the board of directors of the National Center for state courts, which sponsors this dinner. And as President of the conference of Chief Justices. Now, Ellen ash Peterson, I have something in common. We were born within five days of each other. I’m not telling you who’s older. Born in Berlin, I am El Paso, Texas. We have something else in common. Each of us has an absolutely wonderful husband. And my husband and Ellen’s husband are members of the same fraternity. And Philip stand up nobody has pointed to recognize. As a former state court judge, I have a strong appreciation for the complex that TM the delicacy of the relationship between the federal and the state courts. Chief Justice Peters brings enormous talent

Sandra Day O’Connor That was a wonderful introduction. I don’t know how Natalie got all that information. But she really did some research and made it fun. I don’t have a magic wand to wave. I’m here this morning really chat very informally with you about this business of being a cancer survivor. It’s been six years since I underwent surgery for breast cancer. The impact of diagnosis of cancer at that I received is is one which has not been far from my thoughts at any time during these six years. But as Natalie told you, this is the first time that I have spoken publicly about my experience. And I’m not sure that my experience is any different than anyone elses. In fact, I’m quite sure it isn’t. So what I have to say this morning, for those of you who are here, as survivors, or friends or relations of survivors is going to sound hauntingly familiar. I suspect, Dr. Mark Lippmann invited took me to come here today. And he was a tremendous help to me in the period after I was diagnosed as having cancer. And I’ve continued to see him from time to time at various events, and have been most impressed with the work that he has done to further research into the type of cancer that I had.

You’re gathered here today, not just as people concerned with breast cancer about all types of cancer, and to discuss all aspects of a cancer survivorship, the effects on the patients on their families, the health care professionals that take care of them, and in the community in which they live.

Unknown Speaker Thank you. Sandra Day O’Connor Welcome all of you. It feels a little odd to me to be on this side of that bench. But here I am, and very happy to be here for this most interesting topic tonight. And I would like to say a special thank you to Leon Silverman for his marvelous work as president of the Supreme Court Historical Society. He’s really been he has spent so much time and effort on it. I think it’s really worthwhile and I’m constantly grateful for all that he’s done. This series, of course, commemorates the 50th anniversary of the end of World War Two and like every other instance Tuition in our country, the Supreme Court was affected by the war. And unlike everyone else in the country at the time, Supreme Court justices were involved in the war effort. There is an exhibit on the ground floor that illustrates some of that. But today we focus our attention on the very direct involvement of justice Robert Jackson, who took leave as a sitting justice in order to serve as the United States chief counsel to the Nuremberg trials. From my perspective, I think the most remarkable aspect of justice jackson, the service and Nuremberg is that he did it at all. The very idea of an independent judiciary would seem to require that justice is fully discharged their judicial function, and only their judicial function file a member of the court, but I have to admit that the practice of justices Setting political appointments and undertaking non judicial duties has an historical

Sandra Day O’Connor
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Sandra Day O’Connor
Now, please sit. It’s too hot to stand up. This is the first time that john and i have been privileged to visit the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. And it’s such a treat to be here today and to see this wonderful spot, the building and a bit of the program that is displayed here. I’m very excited about it. It’s simply lovely. And I’m sure it’s no surprise, if I say that as President Reagan’s first appointment to the Senate Supreme Court. The invitation to speak at his library was one that I very happily accepted. President Reagan instilled in this country of fresh pride in the principles that underlie our democratic system. He has always been a great champion of democracy. And as president he spoke often and forcefully about implementing our framers vision. He also pursued a vigorous and a successful foreign policy. Ronald Reagan held this country together through the last days of the Cold War. Through his resolute leadership, he paved the way for the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. It is only fitting that a man of such great accomplishment should have this wonderful facility dedicated to the study of his legacy. scholars will no doubt come here to debate the significance of the Reagan era era for years to come. But at least in one respect, Ronald Reagan’s legacy is a more immediate significance.

One of the greatest opportunities that our president has to guide the future of the nation

Host Herself a cancer survivor, Mrs. O’Connor has made advocating unified team treatments for cancer patients for special cause. From her vantage point on the world’s most noticed, and most influential judicial panel, she can not only see what the public’s needs are, but with one word can greatly influence outcomes. Her advocacy of early detection and treatment weighs greatly with the American public. And we salute her efforts with this award today, for she i think is probably the best example in the world, that having breast cancer is not a death sentence, but that you can go on and be anything you want to be if you just address the problem. We honor you today. And please join me ask everyone here to join me in giving her our award today. Thank Sandra Day O’Connor Thank you. Thank you. I must say, Debbie, it was lovely to hear those words. But when I hear about the others you’ve honored today and hear the work that Dr. Klausner and people like Dr. Klausner are doing, I feel that my contribution to this discussion has been very small indeed. What this organization is about is building bridges, building bridges, from your communities and the wide sphere of brands and influence that each of you have to the centers of knowledge and skill and understanding about cancer and prostate cancer and what can be done to alleviate them? So your bridge builders and the other honorees or bridge builders, my bridge is very small. But my honor is very great. And being here today and being with

Sandra Day O’Connor This is a wonderful occasion for Jamestown and for all of us who are lucky enough to be here and see the unveiling of this absolutely handsome and strong statue of Justice Jackson. We’re remembering today a product of this community and of its public schools. The most treasured honor that anyone can receive is one that comes from one’s own town, from those who knew the honorary first and best, so it is today, Robert Jackson, one of the finest justices ever to sit on the bench of the United States Supreme Court, grew up on a farm close to Jamestown. It was here that he attended the Jamestown elementary and high school that he married, had his children and practice law. It was here that he spoke in 1935. At the dedication of the new Jamestown high school building, he said them. If you believe as I believe that democracy is the form of government best adapted to our people, then you must regard the public school as the most fundamental concern of our society. Democracy well. Democracy will always call most of its leaders from the ranks of humble man, and to equip them It must provide free education to the sons and daughters of disadvantaged homes. Robert Jackson was born as you heard in 1892, I thought it was in Pennsylvania, not New York. Early in his life, the family did move to a farm in this area. His father was a farmer, a lumber man and a stock breeder. He advised his son Robert to become a doctor. Instead, on graduating from Jamestown High School, Jackson

Ruth Bader Ginsburg thank you so much because of the good job, I now hold, invitations come in abundance. To preserve energy and time for the courts heavy work, I must ordinarily just say no. For tonight’s celebration, however, I did not just say yes, I asked the women’s bar if I might have the honor of presenting the torchbearer award to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. For all who know her agree: She fits the description to a tee. She is indeed a trailblazer. A grind human, whose mind carrying an incredible energy have encouraged women everywhere, to be brave. To appreciate their own worth, to aspire and to achieve. Sandra has been celebrated in many ceremonies. She has been praised for her independence, self reliance, practicality, and self possession. Of all the accolades one strikes me as describing Sandra best. Growing up on the lazy b ranch in Arizona. Sandra could ride a horse brand cattle driver tractor and fire a rifle with accuracy before she reached her teens, one of the hands on the ranch recalled his clear memory of Sandra Day. She was in the rough and rugged type. But she worked well with us in the canyons. She held her own. Sandra did just that at every stage of her professional and family life. The first woman on the Supreme Court brought to the conference table experiences others did not possess the experience of growing up female in the 1930s 40s and 50s. raising a family of doing all manner of legal work, government service, private practice successes successful

Unknown Speaker Well, I always thought I was the perfect person to introduce Justice O’Connor, because although it might not be obvious, if you look at our resume side by side, she and I do share two very important qualities. First, we are both women of the Southwest. Secondly, we have the most marvelous patient husbands on the face of the planet. Unknown Speaker But the other reason, Justice O’Connor that I assumed that I was given the honor of introducing you today is that although you don’t know it, you look over my shoulder every single day at work. One of the pleasures of being a president of the American Bar Association is that you meet magnificent people from all over the world. And very often you have your photographs taken with them. I’ve even had my photograph taken with Mickey Mouse. But I have only one picture of a famous person in my office. And it isn’t with me. It’s looking at me right above my desk, behind my chair. When I come into my office and Albuquerque every morning and turn on the lights and pull up the blinds. Justice O’Connor is looking right at me with her very direct gaze, that Brooks no dilly dallying, and says to me every day, I expect you to do more than your best because your best isn’t quite good enough. I know that you will hear this afternoon when Justice O’Connor receives the ABA medal about her magnificent contribution to American jurisprudence. And introducing her today. To all of you who care so deeply about the cause of democracy around

Sandra Day O’Connor Attorney General Reno, President Cooper, and distinguished guests and members of the American Bar Association. My feelings at this moment are of gratitude for this signal honor you’ve bestowed on me. And of amazement over the unlikelihood of at all, that a cowgirl from Arizona would have found her way not only through law school, but through 45 years of experience in the legal profession all the way to our nation’s highest court and to This wonderful honor tonight in the city of San Francisco. It was here in this city in 1952, that I was sworn in to the State Bar of California. And that lovely courthouse now restored for the Court of Appeals. It was just south of here in Redwood City that I persuaded the county attorney to give me my first job as a lawyer. Follow the road to this podium has in fact been a long one. It seems very short to me. It feels like only a few years ago, that law school opened my eyes to the world of the rule of law, to the intrigue of legal analysis, and the satisfaction of solving people’s disputes through negotiation. And when all else fails, litigation, the American Bar Association was in existence long before I entered the legal profession. It’s been working throughout my years as a lawyer to study and analyze different subject areas of the law and to propose and help achieve improvements. It has been a strong supporter of a qualified, competent and independent judiciary. It has worked hard to support adequate compensation for

Sandra Day O’Connor Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you President Venugopal. I have the privilege of meeting your president Venugopal in India a couple of years ago when I went to give a lecture there named for his father, who was also a most distinguished attorney in India. And I’m so pleased to be able to come here to this wonderful city of Philadelphia tonight. The birthplace of our nation’s constitution and an absolutely wonderful city. So you chosen a great place for your making. Technology is constantly shrinking our world. From cellular phones to fax machines, beepers to email, satellite communications to the internet. new forms of communication have enabled us to talk to each other, whenever and wherever we happen to be. But it takes more than technological capability to enable people from different nations to communicate effectively with each other. People from all nations need language skills, they need a deeper understanding of foreign cultures, and they need deeper familiarity with foreign traditions and values. A nation’s ability to meet these needs will largely determine its ability to cope, and what has become an increasingly multinational environment. The United States is just beginning to recognize these needs. High Schools here, which wants only talk French and Spanish, as foreign languages now offer Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic and a host of other languages as well. American businesses have also responded to the increasing globalization of brain,

Unknown Speaker Society. Professor post lecture runs for an hour and 15 minutes and followed production by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor Sandra Day O’Connor am so pleased that the Supreme Court has or Historical Society is sponsoring this series of lectures on former chief justices. Now I have a special interest, of course, justices, but I think everybody should. And what really pleases me is that the lectures are held in this court room, and especially tonight going to hear about Chief Justice William Howard Taft. I mean, what better for us to hear about Taft, he was the person that thought Supreme Court should have a home of its own, instead of meeting in the basement in that Burt over in the capital that most of you have visited and he thought we had Court and a building of our own. And it had been talked about day but never approved, and Taft as the only person to ever President of the United States and later as Chief Justice, still have some clout politically with the Congress. He persuaded Congress to appropriate money for this building. And Taff did more than that he hired the architect for it, Cass Gilbert, and he was influential in forming the design and getting it carried out. I think we have one of the most wonderful buildings in all country, inspired every single day when I walk in here, and so it is special that we’re in this court room that Taft helped make possible to here at this lecture. I think there have been two chief justices who really deep About judicial

Sandra Day O’Connor Secretary Cohen, General Vaught, distinguished guests here today and women of the United States military service. This is such a special moment, and a very proud day for women. I’m here today, not as a member of the military service, not as a veteran, but as a woman, as a grandmother, and perhaps as just a judicious observer. From the American Revolution, to Operation Desert Storm women have served in the military for most of the nation’s history. That service was unauthorized and carried out by women as volunteers, sometimes disguised as men. Approximately 127 women fought and skies is soldiers in the Civil War. After a century beginning in 1901, the United States Army established an auxiliary for nurses. Women did not become a permanent part of our armed services until 1948. But their number was kept 2% of the active duty force. That ceiling was lifted in 1967. Today, women represent about 11% of our armed forces. Some 211,000 women are on active duty, and there are some one and a half million American women who are veterans of the military service today. It is time indeed that we dedicate this splendid memorial to the women who have served in the military. As major Beatrice hood stroke, put it This isn’t just my brother’s country or my husband’s country, it’s my country as well. Indeed it is. Women have taken their places and all fields of endeavor in this country, from outer space to ocean depths, from battlefields to Court Room benches, from Chow lines

Sandra Day O’Connor Well, I’m all weighted down now with this fantastic medal. And my husband and I are so happy to be at this beautiful campus today and what a day you will produce for us. It’s incredible. We don’t have days like this in Washington DC. We can even see the snow capped mountain Mount Baldy. MM, this gorgeous campus. And we’re thrilled to be here and I’m so honored by the presentation to me today of the LM browning scripts award. You know Ellen browning scripts was a very special moment. When we look back and try to identify those women who’ve made a significant difference for the lives of all women who follow. We would include Ellen scripts on our short list. She lived a simple, brutal life, obtained an education largely by our own efforts eventually helped her brothers found a newspaper Empire and Layton life founded this very college Scripps College for Women. She had no money to go to college, and worked for two years to pay the cost of going to Knox College back in 1856. She graduated and became a teacher. She saved money has a teacher and moved to Detroit and help her brothers establish a newspaper. She even wrote a newspaper column as you’ve already heard. For many years, it was called Miss Ellen’s miscellany. She moved to California in 1890, where she remained until her death at age 96. All of her resources, which were considerable and time, she gave to charitable causes which interested her. She’s been described as a person who was a principal architect

Sandra Day O’Connor This is the most impressive group all assembled to work and think and celebrate the Constitution. And I’m really pleased to have a chance to stay at say a few words to you tonight about justice, which is a very elusive concept. And it’s been the subject of human aspiration throughout the history of the human race. 1998 marks the 200 and eighth anniversary of the adoption of the Bill of Rights. Our Bill of Rights comes closest to our American notion of personal freedom and justice. And my appreciation for the Bill of Rights. It’s understandable because I spend a significant portion of my life working life thinking, arguing and writing about what it allows the government to do and what it does not allow. And yet after 17 years as a Supreme Court justice, I’m still awed by that document adopted 208 years ago. It’s as vital and timely today as it’s ever been. And I want to talk just a little bit about the history of the Bill of Rights, how it came to exist, and how our perspective on it has evolved. It was June of 1789 when James Madison stood up in the House of Representatives, and gave the speech in which he set out his first draft of what would eventually become the Bill of Rights. What prompted him to do that? History tells us that the Bill of Rights was not an accident. It represented the culmination of a long standing struggle between two groups. Trying to find the proper balance between the rights of individuals and states and the need for a strong central

Unknown Speaker Ladies and gentlemen, if you please. I’d first before introducing Justice O’Connor, I’d like to just say a brief word about the special edition of the National Security Law Journal, which is here on the tables. That includes, among other things, the eulogy that Justice O’Connor gave at justice, palace funeral, and a number of other remarks. And justice pals honor and in as much as this is a special tribute to him. This this dinner this evening. I like to thank every meeting of this committee as a tribute to him. But this is a special tribute. I invite you to pick a copy up on your way out and make it part of your power collection. I’m particularly pleased to have been given the assignment to introduce Justice O’Connor, to the family, to the committee and to its broader family. In part two, because of the special place that she had in the affections of lewis powell and the special esteem the professional esteem that he had for her. I’ve been instructed to make my introductions snappy, she shakes her head. And therefore I won’t pause long over the record facts which are well known but quite astonishing. So I’ll just glide by them quickly. Coming off a large cattle ranch near the New Mexico border, growing up there getting to Stanford at age 16. If I counted correctly, getting both her bachelor’s degree and Law Degree in six years. I think I’m right about that. finishing third in her class, and then finding herself unable to persuade any top law firm on the west

Sandra Day O’Connor Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Sandra Day O’Connor Thank you judge Nelson, for that very splendid introduction. You can just see why it’s been so terrific for the western Justice Center to have just judge Nelson involved. Because talk about a bundle of energy. And you can’t tell her No. I mean, there’s no such thing. So she has a tremendous asset. And President Donald Baker who has provided such Distinguished Public Service in Los Angeles County, along with his legal work, and I know what an asset he’s been to this institution, and Bill Drake, who was captured from a dispute resolution facility in Washington DC to come out here. And I think that was a great asset. And my boss back here, Chief Judge Proctor hug. I’m the Ninth Circuit justice. So I have to do what he says we’re in the ninth circuit here. And so. So he’s been a great Chief Judge, and how fortunate it is that he also is involved in this marvelous project that was initiated really by the first efforts of the Ninth Circuit judges, we’re going to occupy this wonderful building. You know, the original Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Court building is that fantastic facility in San Francisco that was damaged so badly in the last earthquake, but is now restored at a very high price, taxpayer dollars, but it’s it’s love light. And the Court of Appeals judges from Southern California used to have chambers and work in downtown Los Angeles. But the old this stuff, but they call it this stuff,

Sandra Day O’Connor Mrs. Clinton, Secretary Albright, Mary Regula, Wendelyn Brooks Elizabeth Campbell, Shirley Chisholm, thank all of you for this wonderful honor and this very delightful evening. Although I was the first woman to serve on the US Supreme Court, the credit goes not to me, but to the thousands of women before 1981, who demonstrated that women can do a good job in any field of endeavor. And all those women who spoke out forcefully in seeking equal opportunities for women in the workplace in my lifetime, not just in yours, Elizabeth Campbell, but in my lifetime, too. We’ve seen extraordinary improvement and opportunities for women. These changes have been good for women, and they’ve been good for our country. Congratulations, Mary, on the establishment of the First Lady’s Library. Americans admire their first ladies so much, and all of us will welcome this institution dedicated to preserving the record of their achievements. Thanks for making this such a special evening.

Unknown Speaker Sandra Day O’Connor Thank you very much, Chief Justice Lackett of my home state Supreme Court, Chief Justice Veasey of Delaware with whom I had the privilege of being with back in November when I went to Delaware for an event of the state bar there. And all of the chief justices, justices, judges, great Americans and others here at this conference today, I’m so glad to be with you. But I’m also very nervous because I haven’t been able to attend your conference. And I told Tom’s Lakha that I thought I had a lot of nerve to come here and talk to you on your last day when I didn’t know what you would been talking about. And I hope you will Give me because I haven’t been privileged to be part of your conversations and I surely wish I had, because there’s a lot I could learn. And I’ve been a little bit out of touch with things in the state court systems lately, as you might have noticed. So I think those of you here are in tune with what’s going on much more than I am. I work in a building which bears a marble inscription over the entrance that says equal justice under the under law. The subject of this conference shows an admirable awareness of the importance of public trust as a dimension of equal justice. This is the first national conference on this subject, and it’s very impressive that so many state Chief Justices and state court administrators are here. Also impressive is the hosting array of National Court organizations, the American Bar Association, state

President Ladner and Dean Grossman, and faculty graduates and friends of Washington School of Law. What a special day. This is for all of you graduates of the American universities, Washington College of Law, and for your families who helped you to reach this day and this moment, it has taken each of you at least three years and perhaps considerably more of law school studies to enable you to obtain your law degree today. You will have no more lectures and exams to endure.

And the faculty will no longer have you to endure. You will presumably begin to use your legal training in a variety of ways. Someone private practice, summon the public sector, summon business or a non legal pursues, but your thought processes, the way you approach and analyze problems is now forever changed. You’ve learned to break down complex issues into their component parts, and to look at them with some detachment and objectivity. You’ve learned how and where to try to find some answers. These are not insignificant achievements.

Now, it’s a special day for me as well. This law school, as you know, was founded 103 years ago, in 1896, 24 years before women had the right to vote. Founded by two determined women, Ellen Spencer Mussey and Emma Gillett. Its first students first read, we’re women. Since its beginning, the Washington College of Law has valued the role that women as well as men play as lawyers in our society. It has provided strong clinical programs to give students hands-on experience, helping those

Unknown Speaker I hope you all have a wonderful afternoon the meeting is adjourned. And Unknown Speaker you’re watching c spans America and the courts. Next associate Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor helps dedicated new building at the University of Oregon law school and Eugene defense about 25 minutes. Unknown Speaker It is rare that a speaker so perfectly fits the occasion, as does our speaker in this dedication. As we dedicate to Wm W. Night Law Center, we do so building on a legacy of qualities that we aim to carry into the future. qualities that have served our state so well, and qualities that will continue we hope to do so. There are many but I think particularly of three that are most applicable today, a pioneering session spirit of boldness in thought and action, and a wisdom that is deep and lasting in its vision. Since our beginnings as Law School of the West, the University of Oregon School of Law has worked hard to be at the forefront of legal needs and new areas of practice, not content simply to follow, we have aim to lead and to prepare legal practitioners to do the same. Along with this pioneering leadership, we’ve encouraged the boldness of thought and action, and ability to move beyond the ordinary two ways and means of achievements not yet considered, let alone practice. This has been a Center for Public Service and law reform. And we’ve encouraged and nurtured a worldview that sees beyond letters to the words beyond words to the entire text, beyond

Thank you, President Merton, the Honorable Ed mace, and my fellow honorary degree recipients.

Now first of all, we have find out what are these privileges a permanent they are to President Merton. I keep hearing that, and I haven’t quite figured that out. It is an enormous pleasure to be here today at George Mason University. After all, it’s a day of joy for everyone. You graduates have no more University exams or classes to endure. And I might say the faculty no longer has you to endure. You have you have fame and fortune ahead of you, your family, spouses and friends can look forward to seeing more of you. And your speaker has the rest. But from her labor’s up on Capitol Hill, so it’s quite a day. Now, I realize we’ve gathered here today to applaud those of you who are receiving degrees. But there are a few other people here today who should also be recognized and with whom you graduates probably would like to share your glory. I refer, of course to the parents, spouses or other family members who have made some significant contributions to your presence here today. First of all, your parents have the brains which you were lucky enough to inherit. And your family probably provided at least some of the money you needed to sustain yourself while you were here. So I congratulate your families and command you graduates for your good judgment in selecting them. Now, a commencement speech is a particularly difficult assignment. The speaker is given no topic and is expected to be

Sandra Day O’Connor Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank Thanks. Thank you so much. What a special day this is for all of your honorees and how happy I am to be in the company today with such a remarkable group of women honorees, I can’t imagine a better group and I have sat today fascinated with every single one of them and everything they had to say. I’ve heard how special this event always is. And I’ve not been able to attend all these luncheons, but I think I’m gonna have to come back because I grew up as a cowgirl in the southwest. And I learned out there that the only thing that mattered was whether you could lend a hand and do it well. It didn’t matter whether you were black, white, or brown, male or female, young or old, you’re just had to do your job. And it was a place where everything around you could hurt you. If you didn’t watch out. You could run into a rattlesnake. You shook your shoes out to get rid of the scorpions. Every time you fell off your horse, you were in danger of falling into a cactus. I mean everything out there could bite, prick, tear, cut, or whatever it was. And all I ever wanted to be was a cattle rancher. That was all I knew. My grandparents had done the same, and my family. And it’s been a long road from that dry, barren Southwest cattle ranch, to the marble courtroom, where I often find myself sitting today. It’s been a very long and often a very hard road for women lawyers, since Margaret brand became the first woman

Sandra Day O’Connor Thank you President, Bill Paul, and the Lord Chief Justice Harry volts my friend from even before my days on the Supreme Court, and Lord justice Norse, it’s good to see you again. And to see all of the members and brands of the American Bar Association, who were able to come to this remarkable place today. I don’t know about you. But when I walked today, across this Meadow to this historic spot, I was deeply moved. This Bob resonates with historical significance to everyone here today. And every citizen of the United states and of the United Kingdom, and indeed far beyond the boundaries of those two nations. And it’s a wonderful privilege to speak today in commemoration of one of the most momentous occasions in legal history. In many ways, the story of English liberties, and therefore the story of American liberties began on this very meadow, when King john affix the Great Seal of the realm to the Magna Carta. In truth, the grievances of the barons who impelled King john to come here in June of that year, were rather mundane concerns the barons were generally unlettered and self interested man, who sought practical concessions from the king and return for their allegiance to the crown. The Magna Carta bottom is an intensely practical document. tailored to the problems of feudal times, spelling out one by one concrete remedies or actual abuses. But in addressing the specific grievances, the great chart or use language that transcended the barons parochial

Sandra Day O’Connor Thank you so much, Mr. Anderson. And Acting Deputy Administrator bib and Mr. Kiss Delaney and my friend Bill IV. Now, they’ve already said everything I was going to say to you. So I’m a little bit of trouble. You know, there are about 370 federal courthouses in the United States. And there have been, as I count them, about 60 funding requests for new federal courthouse construction, actually approved by Congress in the brief period from 1986 to 2001. That’s a lot of courthouses, when you think they’re only 370 to begin with. And those funding requests total, by my calculation, about 501 million or half a billion dollars. Each of these projects has required architectural engineering, design, and other construction expertise, expertise of all kinds, which will be recognized today. I don’t know about you, I’m not talking to the architects now, because you probably already think this. But I place a very high value on architectural services. I care about my surroundings, whether it’s my home, or where I work, I feel better, and I work better. If I’m in a place that I think is handsome, and that I enjoy, it makes a real difference to me. I suspect it makes a real difference to everybody. And I think that good design matters in courthouses and elsewhere. It must, of course, accommodate the basic functional needs of the structure in a courthouse, that means court rooms. And I have to say they’re pretty know by and large these days, maybe you can figure out something

Unknown Speaker Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is next. She recently spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony of New York University Law Schools new building in Manhattan. She reflected on the American spirit after seeing the ruins of the World Trade Center. Unknown Speaker When we scheduled this event, there was only one person our community wanted to deliver the principal address. Remember the faculty lunch at which she spoke to us that stimulated the idea for a conference that just the other day as we celebrated the success of the global law school initiative, was referred to as the seminal intellectual event of that program, now widely recognized as having transformed all of legal education, not just this law school. But Justice Sandra Day O’Connor didn’t just do that one act of beneficence to this school. She has been an integral part of this law school community at every turn. She has visited our campus during my time as Dean, this is now I think, her seventh time. And every time she comes, she meets with faculty as she will today. She meets with students as she will today. And she enhances our world. But equally, she’s been there as counselor and advisor throughout the evolution of this law school. There is no one outside of the immediate law school community, who is a great friend to this law school, and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. And I’m delighted to introduce her to you today. Justice O’Connor. Unknown Speaker Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Unknown Speaker

Sandra Day O’Connor Now on the whole, the United States judicial system leaves a favorable impression around the world, but in the treatment and United States Courts of international law there jury is still out. Because of my exposure to a great many legal systems around the world. I decided to speak to you today about the need for more knowledge about international law and transnational law. Why does information about international law matters so much? Why should judges and lawyers who are concerned about the intricacies of ERISA and the Americans with Disabilities Act and the bankruptcy code, care about issues of foreign law, and international and transnational law? The reason of course is globalization. No institution of government can now afford to ignore the rest of the world. The importance of globalization should not be underestimated. 30% of our gross domestic product is internationally derived. We operate today under a large array of international agreements and organizations, the UN Convention on contracts for the International sale of goods. NAFTA, the World Trade Organization, the Hague conventions on collection of evidence abroad and service of process. And the New York convention on horsemen of arbitrage rewards dimension only a few. But globalization is much more than these agreements and organizations. It also represents a greater awareness of and access to people, some places are different from our own. The fates of nations are more closely intertwined than

Student Sandra Day O’Connor Associate Justice was born in El Paso, Texas, March 26 1930. She married John D. O’Connor III in 1952 and has three sons, Scott, Bryan, and Jay. She received her BA and LLB from Stanford University. She served as deputy county attorney of San Mateo County, California for 1952-53 and as a civilian attorney for Quartermaster market center in Frankfurt, Germany, from 1954 through 57. From 1958 through 60. She practiced law in Maryvale, Arizona and served as Assistant Attorney General of Arizona from 1965 to 69. She was appointed to the Arizona State Senate in 1969 and was subsequently reelected to two two-year terms. In 1975, she was elected judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court and served until 1979 when she was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals. President Reagan nominated her as an Associate Justice at the Supreme Court, and she took her seat on September 25, 1981. It’s my pleasure to introduce to you, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Sandra Day O’Connor All right. Thank you so much. Thank you. This is a really special day for me. Can you imagine driving up to a beautiful new facility like this and seeing your name engraved across the front? It’s quite a thrill. And I can think of no more welcome honor than that which you have bestowed on me to have this beautiful new high school bear my name. I grew up on a cattle ranch in southeastern Arizona. When I was born, my mother wanted to go to a hospital and her parents were living in El Paso.

Sandra Day O’Connor Thank you. Now first of all, we have to get everybody seated, ’cause I’m going to be at this for a while there’s a chair there and there’s one over there. Need to there’s another one here. But I’m to work, right. So it’s Law Day today, May 1. May 1 was celebrated in the former Soviet Union as a day to remember the ascendancy of the Communist Party there. And perhaps it was in reaction to that, that we started celebrating May 1 as Law Day in this country. And it’s become a day that we care about, at least in the legal profession we do. And I hope other citizens do too, because it does give us an opportunity to talk about the role of law in our society, the role of courts and a fair judicial system. And that’s what I’m involved in, in my work today. And it didn’t start out that way. I was told you might like to know how I started out. I grew up on a cattle ranch in the dry, arid Southwest, it was half in Arizona and half a New Mexico we straddle the state line. And the ranch was quite remote we were 35 miles from and it was a life built around the small group of people who ran the ranch my parents and the people who were there. And we were not many in numbers. And the people who work there, the Cowboys tended to be single man who spent their whole lives there. We had at least four who stayed until their ultimate death as old man and spent respectively something like 70 years, they’re over 50 in three other cases.

So it was a small knit group that tried to

William Rehnquist Good afternoon. It’s my pleasure to welcome you to the groundbreaking ceremony for the modernization of the Supreme Court building 72 years ago in the spring of 1931, the work of digging the foundation for our beautiful building began. Four years later, on April 4 1935, the building was completed. The total cost, including furnishings was less than $10 million. And it came in under budget, with almost $100,000 returned to the Treasury. The runner vision project for which we break ground today is scheduled to take five years, and it cost 120 $2 million. when it’s completed, I hope that we will again be returning funds to the Treasury, but I’m not betting on it. William Howard Taft, who served as Chief Justice from 1921 to 1930, was the moving force behind constructing a separate building for the court. Although he did not live long enough to see it completed. Until this building open, the court did not have a home of its own. From 1800 and one until 1935. It occupied cramped quarters across the street in the capital, very much at the sufferance of Congress. And most justices worked out of their homes. having its own building was a great symbolic importance to the court. The building has been Captain excellent repair, and looks as beautiful today as when I first saw it, February of 1952. But after nearly 70 years, it’s overdue for renovation. I would like to thank the members of the courts building committee, particularly Justice O’Connor, who chairs the committee,

John Street Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in honoring the 2003 recipient of the Philadelphia Liberty metal. United States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day. Oh, Sandra Day O’Connor, a great American who has demonstrated leadership and vision and carriage in the pursuit of liberty. John Street Justice O’Connor, we are proud to welcome you to our city, and our Sunoco, welcome America celebration. We are particularly pleased to present you with the Philadelphia Liberty medal on this awesome and historic location, the opening of this spectacular National Constitution Center. Sandra Day O’Connor Thank you, Mayor Street and thank all of you here today for joining in this absolutely wonderful occasion, as we celebrate both our nation’s birthday and the opening of the National Constitution Center here in the great city of Philadelphia.

The Constitution Center and independent Hall, together with the Liberty Bell, form a place that every American should visit. It will contribute each and every day to the reinforcement of the basic principles that bind us together as a nation and a people. And Joe Torsella, thank you so much for your perseverance, and for reminding us today that even supreme court justices make mistakes.

On May 25, 1787, here in Philadelphia, a quorum of delegates from seven states met in answer to the call from the Annapolis Convention to draft what became the Constitution of the United States. The delegates unanimously selected George Washington as president

Sandra Day O’Connor Thank you, Audrey, Kelly, for your wonderful presentations today. And what a delight it is for me to be here when you receive the Sandra Day O’Connor award that you participated and establishing 10 years ago. It’s great and to be and to be present. When so many of the previous Sandra Day O’Connor award winners could be here. And what a wonderful group have been selected. The Philadelphia Bar Association has been particularly kind to the female division of the United States Supreme Court. I’m truly delighted that you’ve established now an annual justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg legal writing award, it is exceedingly appropriate because Justice Ginsburg rights with a very, and I careful and no one among us doesn’t matter. So it’s a real special treat to be here today with Justice Ginsburg, as that effort is launched. And on hand, usually at your special events in Philadelphia is judge Norma Schapiro over here at the table today, whose career here in Philadelphia has spanned more than five remarkable decades. She has said that one of her favorite quotations is from the ancient Roman official Gaius who poignantly noted that one who helps the wandering traveler does as it were, light another’s lamp by their own, and it gives no less light because it helped another. And as the first woman appointed to the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, her live show in dark corners where women never before had traveled. And she has led her light