Sandra Day O'Connor

“The power I exert on the court depends on the power of my arguments, not on my gender.”

“The members of the court were just delighted to have a ninth member - male or female. They were all kind and welcoming.”

“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.”

“I think we may be seeing the beginnings of a resurgence of civic-mindedness in this country. Hopefully the younger generations, which came out in record numbers during the last presidential election, will pass their enthusiasm on to their children.”

“Yes, I will bring the understanding of a woman to the Court, but I doubt that alone will affect my decisions.”

“Half the states have stopped making civics and government a requirement for high school. Half.”

“The Establishment Clause prohibits government from making adherence to a religion relevant in any way to a person's standing in the political community.”

“When I went to law school, which after all was back in the dark ages, we never looked beyond our borders for precedents. As a state court judge, it never would have occurred to me to do so, and when I got to the Supreme Court, it was very much the same. We just didn't do it.”

“The freedom to criticize judges and other public officials is necessary to a vibrant democracy.”

“The No Child Left Behind Program was an incentive to the schools to get their kids up to snuff on math and science and reading.”

“We have a complex system of government. You have to teach it to every generation.”

“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.”

“It is true that as you have children, there are a good many months when you don't want to be working full-time. I agree that that's an issue.”

“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.”

“The abortion cases produced an enormous amount of mail to my chambers, vastly more than to the other chambers, I am sure. I sometimes thought there wasn't a woman in the United States who didn't write me a letter on one side or the other of that issue.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Historically courts in this country have been insulated. We do not look beyond our borders for precedents.”

“Each of us brings to our job, whatever it is, our lifetime of experience and our values.”

“Despite the encouraging and wonderful gains and the changes for women which have occurred in my lifetime, there is still room to advance and to promote correction of the remaining deficiencies and imbalances.”