USA - Pioneer at the Supreme Court - Sandra Day O'Connor died
The first woman to sit on the US Supreme Court, Sandra Day O'Connor, has died at the age of 93. The former judge died this morning in Phoenix in the US state of Arizona, according to the Supreme Court in Washington.
She succumbed to complications from advanced dementia and a respiratory illness. O'Connor made history in the USA when she became the first woman judge on the Supreme Court in 1981. She cast the deciding vote in many rulings and voted partly with her liberal and partly with her conservative colleagues. As a result, she was considered one of the most influential women in the USA during her time on the Supreme Court.
O'Connor was nominated by then US President Ronald Reagan and retired in 2006 - partly to care for her ailing husband. Supreme Court judges are appointed for life. O'Connor was nominated by the Republican Reagan. However, she did not always vote in favor of the conservatives - for example on the issue of abortion or the separation of church and state. O'Connor did not have a colleague on the Supreme Court until 1993, when Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was associated with the left wing, was appointed as a judge. She remained in office until her death in 2020.
Law studies at Stanford
O'Connor was born in Texas in 1930 and studied law at the renowned Stanford University in California. She was active in the Republican Party and became a senator in the Arizona Senate. The "Washington Post" wrote about her time on the Supreme Court: "She never went far enough in any area of the law to fully satisfy either conservatives or liberals, either Republicans or Democrats."
One decision where O'Connor was particularly looked to was the historic hearing on the outcome of the 2000 presidential election, when the question was whether the votes in the crucial state of Florida should be recounted. The Supreme Court declared the election over, making Republican George W. Bush president, with Democrat Al Gore losing out. Many liberals resented O'Connor for having decided in Bush's favor.
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Source: www.stern.de
