23 Quotes & Sayings By Sandra Day Oconnor

Sandra Day O'Connor served as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. She was the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court and the first Roman Catholic justice. Born in 1930 in El Paso, Texas, O'Connor attended Stanford University and Harvard Law School. A former Arizona state legislator, she was appointed to the Arizona Supreme Court by Arizona Governor John Howard Pyle in 1980 Read more

President Ronald Reagan nominated her to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1981, and she took her seat there in January 1981. She retired from the bench on July 31, 2006, after more than thirty years of service.

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Those who would renegotiate the boundaries between church and state must therefore answer a difficult question: why would we trade a system that has served us so well for one that has served others so poorly? Sandra Day OConnor
A state of war is not a blank check for...
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A state of war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation's citizens. Sandra Day OConnor
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Even in my own time and in my own life, I have witnessed a revolution. Sandra Day OConnor
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The family unit plays a critical role in our society and in the training of the generation to come. Sandra Day OConnor
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Slaying the dragon of delay is no sport for the short-winded. Sandra Day OConnor
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Society as a whole benefits immeasurably from a climate in which all persons, regardless of race or gender, may have the opportunity to earn respect, responsibility, advancement and remuneration based on ability. Sandra Day OConnor
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Having family responsibilities and concerns just has to make you a more understanding person. Sandra Day OConnor
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It matters enormously to a successful democratic society like ours that we have three branches of government, each with some independence and some control over the other two. That's set out in the Constitution. Sandra Day OConnor
9
I care very much about women and their progress. I didn't go march in the streets, but when I was in the Arizona Legislature, one of the things that I did was to examine every single statute in the state of Arizona to pick out the ones that discriminated against women and get them changed. Sandra Day OConnor
10
Do the best you can in every task, no matter how unimportant it may seem at the time. No one learns more about a problem than the person at the bottom. Sandra Day OConnor
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Statutes authorizing unreasonable searches were the core concern of the framers of the 4th Amendment. Sandra Day OConnor
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Each of us brings to our job, whatever it is, our lifetime of experience and our values. Sandra Day OConnor
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In order to cultivate a set of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry, it is necessary that the path to leadership be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity. Sandra Day OConnor
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It is difficult to discern a serious threat to religious liberty from a room of silent, thoughtful schoolchildren. Sandra Day OConnor
15
My hope is that 10 years from now, after I've been across the street at work for a while, they'll all be glad they gave me that wonderful vote. Sandra Day OConnor
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It is a measure of the framers' fear that a passing majority might find it expedient to compromise 4th Amendment values that these values were embodied in the Constitution itself. Sandra Day OConnor
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You have citizens who don't understand how government works and they're kind of soured on it. All they do is criticize. They have no idea that they can make things happen. Sandra Day OConnor
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We have a complex system of government. You have to teach it to every generation. Sandra Day OConnor
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For students, understanding the separate and unique functions of each branch of government can help them understand how different kinds of government officials can help solve different kinds of problems. Sandra Day OConnor
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We pay a price when we deprive children of the exposure to the values, principles, and education they need to make them good citizens. Sandra Day OConnor
21
We don't accomplish anything in this world alone... and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads form one to another that creates something. Sandra Day OConnor
22
I've always said that at the end of the day, on a legal issue, I think a wise old woman and a wise old man are going to reach the same conclusion. Sandra Day OConnor