In 2007, O’Connor’s family made public that John O’Connor had struck up a romance with a fellow Alzheimer’s patient at the assisted living center where he had moved. Her decision to step down was influenced by a decline in the health of her husband, John O’Connor III, who himself had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. She was 75 when she announced her retirement from the court in 2005. O’Connor was 51 when she was confirmed 99-0 to the Supreme Court. Despite those early challenges, she became the first woman to lead the Arizona state senate before becoming a judge. Although she graduated third in her class from law school she had difficulty finding a job as a lawyer at a time when there were few women in the legal profession. O’Connor grew up on a ranch on the border of Arizona and New Mexico called the “Lazy B” and went to Stanford for college and law school. O'Connor issued this letter about her condition. Try viewing this in a modern browser like Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Internet Explorer 9 or later. Your browser does not support the iframe HTML tag. Gore decision effectively settling the 2000 election in George W. On the Supreme Court, her votes were key in cases about abortion, affirmative action and campaign finance as well as the Bush v. He died in 2004.ĭuring her more than two decades on the court O’Connor was often the deciding vote in important cases, providing the crucial fifth vote when the court divided 5-4. O’Connor’s letter Tuesday was reminiscent of Reagan’s 1994 letter announcing that he had Alzheimer’s disease. O’Connor was a state court judge before being nominated to the Supreme Court in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan, who fulfilled a campaign promise by nominating a woman to the high court. O’Connor wrote that since “many people have asked about my current status and activities” she wanted to be “open about these changes.” Jay O’Connor also said that hip issues have meant his mother now primarily uses a wheelchair and stays close to her home in Phoenix. The story noted that O’Connor had stopped making public appearances and recently turned over an office she had kept at the Supreme Court to newly retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. O’Connor’s announcement of her diagnosis came a day after an Associated Press story in which her son Jay O’Connor said that his mother had begun to have challenges with her short term memory. She added: “As a young cowgirl from the Arizona desert, I never could have imagined that one day I would become the first woman justice on the U.S. “While the final chapter of my life with dementia may be trying, nothing has diminished my gratitude and deep appreciation for the countless blessings in my life,” she wrote. But she stopped speaking publicly more than two years ago. Sitting Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, speaking at Yale University Wednesday, did not comment on Scalia’s replacement, but did open the event with a call for a moment of silence.O’Connor said doctors diagnosed her some time ago and that as her condition has progressed she is “no longer able to participate in public life.” After her 2006 retirement from the high court O’Connor had appeared around the country championing an educational organization she founded and serving as a visiting appeals court judge, among other activities. “And I wish the president well as he makes choices and goes down that line - it’s hard.”

And it’s an important position and one we care about as a nation, as a people,” O’Connor said. “Well you just have to pick the best person you can under these circumstances, as the appointing authority must do. She said Obama should name a replacement for Scalia, an influential conservative member of the nation’s high court who was found dead Saturday at age 79. She noted that it’s unusual to for a Supreme Court opening to exist in an election year, saying that the proximity to the presidential race “creates too much talk around the thing that isn’t necessary.” “We need somebody in there to do the job and just get on with it.”

“I don’t agree (with Republicans),” O’Connor said in an interview with Phoenix-based Fox affiliate KSAZ. O’Connor, a nominee of President Ronald Reagan who became the court’s swing vote until she retired from the bench in 2006, broke with Republicans who say they plan to block Obama’s nominee, and want his successor to name the next justice.

Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor says President Barack Obama should name Antonin Scalia’s replacement. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated.

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