Trailblazing U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor Dies at 93

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 4 December 2023

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, died on Friday. She was 93. A Ronald Reagan appointee who retired from the high court in 2006, O’Connor was known as a swing vote in contentious cases on abortion, religious liberty and affirmative action. She once wrote, “Rare indeed is the legal victory — in court or legislature — that is not a careful byproduct of an emerging social consensus.” We’ll talk about her influence and legacy. Guests: Melissa Murray, professor of law, NYU School of Law; co-host, the Strict Scrutiny podcast Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor and legal correspondent, Slate; host, Amicus podcast; author, "Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America". Website URL: http://www.slate.com/authors.dahlia_lithwick.html Cristina Rodriguez, professor of law, Yale Law School; former clerk for Justice O'Connor during the Supreme Court's 2002 term Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:32.2	From KQED.
0:37.2	The From KQBD in San Francisco, I'm Nina Kim.
0:52.0	Coming up on forum, what has happened to the legacy of Justice
0:55.3	Sandra Day O'Connor? The first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court died last week, and during her
1:00.4	near quarter century on the high court, became known for being moderate, a consensus builder, and
1:05.3	pragmatic, sensitive to the impact of judicial decisions on public life. Words rarely used to describe today's ideological Supreme Court.
1:14.5	O'Connor, despite some of her personal views, worked to preserve Roe v. Wade,
1:18.9	keep race as a factor in college admissions,
1:21.5	and warned against blurring the line between separating church and state.
1:25.3	That judicial legacy is now in shambles, says one of our guests,
1:28.7	Dahlia Lithwick. We'll hear what you think after this news.
1:35.3	Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim. Back when Justice Sanderdae O'Connor graduated near the top of her
1:41.2	class from Stanford Law School, she could not get a job here.
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