Commitment to the rule of law provides a basic assurance that people can know what to expect whether what they do is popular or unpopular at the time. – Sandra Day O’Connor
It is difficult to discern a serious threat to religious liberty from a room of silent, thoughtful schoolchildren. – Sandra Day O’Connor
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 O’Connor
The framers of the Constitution were so clear in the federalist papers and elsewhere that they felt an independent judiciary was critical to the success of the nation. – Sandra Day O’Connor
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 O’Connor
What was a problem was the excessive amount of media attention to the appointment of the first woman and everything she did. Everywhere that Sandra went, the press was sure to go. And that got tiresome; it was stressful. – Sandra Day O’Connor
Statutes authorizing unreasonable searches were the core concern of the framers of the 4th Amendment. – Sandra Day O’Connor
If I stumbled badly in doing the job, I think it would have made life more difficult for women, and that was a great concern of mine and still is. – Sandra Day O’Connor
Occasionally we have to interpret an international treaty – one, perhaps, affecting airlines and liability for injury to passengers or damage to goods. Then, of course, we have to look to the precedents of other member nations in resolving issues. – Sandra Day O’Connor
Having family responsibilities and concerns just has to make you a more understanding person. – Sandra Day O’Connor
We have a complex system of government. You have to teach it to every generation. – Sandra Day O’Connor
The power I exert on the court depends on the power of my arguments, not on my gender. – Sandra Day O’Connor
The freedom to criticize judges and other public officials is necessary to a vibrant democracy. The problem comes when healthy criticism is replaced with more destructive intimidation and sanctions. – Sandra Day O’Connor
My sense is that jurists from other nations around the world understand that our court occupies a very special place in the American system, and that the court is rather well regarded in comparison, perhaps, to their own. – Sandra Day O’Connor
As a citizen, you need to know how to be a part of it, how to express yourself – and not just by voting. – Sandra Day O’Connor
Justice Ginsburg is a very competent justice, and it is a joy to have her on the court, but particularly for me it is a pleasure to have a second woman on the court. – Sandra Day O’Connor
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 O’Connor
In terms of having the American people look at the court and think of it as being fair and appropriate for our nation, it helps to have women, plural, on the court. – Sandra Day O’Connor
Parents should continue to become more involved with their communities, and more involved in their children’s education. – Sandra Day O’Connor
Yes, I will bring the understanding of a woman to the Court, but I doubt that alone will affect my decisions. – Sandra Day O’Connor
Most high courts in other nations do not have discretion, such as we enjoy, in selecting the cases that the high court reviews. Our court is virtually alone in the amount of discretion it has. – Sandra Day O’Connor
The more education a woman has, the wider the gap between men’s and women’s earnings for the same work. – Sandra Day O’Connor
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 O’Connor
I wanted to be a cattle rancher when I was young, because it was what I knew and I loved it. – Sandra Day O’Connor
I think the important thing about my appointment is not that I will decide cases as a woman, but that I am a woman who will get to decide cases. – Sandra Day O’Connor
My concern was whether I could do the job of a justice well enough to convince the nation that my appointment was the right move. – Sandra Day O’Connor
The members of the court were just delighted to have a ninth member – male or female. They were all kind and welcoming. – Sandra Day O’Connor
