Andra Day O’connor, first woman on Supreme Court, celebrated as trailblazer

Justice Sandra Day O’connor, the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, was remembered Monday as a trailblazer who never lost sight of how the high court’s decisions affected all Americans.

O’connor, an Arizona native who was an unwavering voice of moderate conservatism for more than two decades, died Dec. 1 at age 93. Mourners at the court on Monday included Vice President Kamala Harris, the first woman to serve in her role, and her husband Doug Emhoff.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor spoke at a private ceremony that included the nine justices and retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, as well as O’connor’s family and court colleagues.

“She would often say, ‘It was good to be the first, but I don’t want to be the last,’” Sotomayor said of O’connor’s distinction as the first woman. She lived to see a record four women serving on the high court.

“For the four of us, and for so many others of every background and aspiration, Sandra was a living example that women could take on any challenge, could more than hold their own in any spaces dominated by men and could do so with grace,” Sotomayor said.

O’connor’s body lay in repose after her casket was carried up the court steps with her seven grandchildren serving as honorary pallbearers. It passed under the iconic words engraved on the pediment, “Equal Justice Under Law,” before being placed in the court’s Great Hall for the public to pay their respects.

Funeral services are set for today at Washington National Cathedral, where President Joe Biden and Chief Justice John Roberts will speak.

O’connor was nominated in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan and confirmed by the Senate, ending 191 years of male exclusivity on the high court.

She was a top-ranked graduate of Stanford’s law school in 1952, but quickly discovered that most large law firms at the time did not hire women. One Los Angeles firm offered her a job as a secretary. She built a career that included service as a member of the Arizona Legislature and state judge before her appointment to the Supreme Court at age 51.

JACQUELYN MARTIN/ASSOCIATED PRESS With family members in the foreground, current and former members of the Supreme Court take their places by the flag-draped casket of retired Justice Sandra Day O’connor, who died Dec. 1 at 93. Mourners at the court Monday also included Vice President Kamala Harris.