Interview, Fireside Chat, Lecture
Evan Thomas: Author, "First: Sandra Day O’Connor"
- The "undue burden standard" regarding abortion rights, which has been litigated for decades, is expected to face continued legal challenges rather than being definitively settled by a single ruling.
- The "trimester system" established in Roe v. Wade is predicted to fail as medical science advances, causing fetal viability to occur earlier and rendering the system untenable due to an internal collision.
- Justice O'Connor is expected to remain a "bridge figure" who prioritizes practicality over activism, a role that opened the door for future female justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan.
- Affirmative action is expected to be limited to approximately 25 years following the 2001-2002 University of Michigan cases, serving a time-limited purpose for diversity in institutions like law schools and the military officer corps to ensure representation reflects the nation.
- Without affirmative action intervention, it is predicted that the percentage of minorities in law schools would remain extremely low.
- The military's officer corps requires affirmative action to "look like America," a result that does not happen automatically without such measures.
- Justice O'Connor is expected to have alienated both the right and the left by finding middle-ground compromises on abortion and affirmative action, leading to "buyer's remorse" among the right wing after she served as the swing vote for the next 25 years.
- During her 1981 confirmation, the right wing expressed significant concern regarding her past vote to decriminalize abortion, but O'Connor successfully neutralized these concerns by personally charming senators and remaining non-committal on future abortion stances.
- Justice O'Connor is expected to have been confirmed 99-0, contrasting sharply with the political environment of later periods such as the Kavanaugh hearings.
- In her political career, O'Connor became the first woman to serve as majority leader in any state Senate before quietly letting the Equal Rights Amendment die in committee due to a lack of passing votes, despite infuriating ardent advocates.
- She is expected to have methodically changed gender-biased laws in Arizona and spent five years after having three children focusing on networking in an era where the term did not exist.
- Facing discrimination in the 1950s, O'Connor could not secure a job in a California law firm in 1950 and was denied a typewriter at Sullivan and Cromwell, eventually hanging a shingle in a downscale shopping mall while her husband held a position at a fancy law firm.
- The Supreme Court is expected to continue engaging with difficult societal issues like abortion, affirmative action, and religious freedom as ongoing conversations rather than issuing final words.
- O'Connor's pragmatic approach is expected to have preserved abortion rights as long as they remain on the books, while her strategy in Mississippi University for Women versus Hogan aimed to create a bridge for challenging laws discriminating against women.
- Justice O'Connor is expected to have served as the decisive vote in approximately 330 cases over 24 years, often having to break the heart of Justice Lewis Powell to uphold women's rights in specific cases.
- Regarding personal conduct, O'Connor is expected to have been an emotional person who did not show tears in public to men trying to bait her, learning to pick her shots and walk away from stupid fights.
- Historical data notes that one-quarter of the U.S. Senate historically held a law degree, reflecting the founders' status as lawyers.
- O'Connor's legal philosophy was influenced by a Western Civilization course that instilled a deep sense of the rule of law and the belief that individuals can shape their own destiny.
- She is expected to have viewed the Court as a branch engaged with other branches rather than the final word on societal matters, avoiding the role of a scientific or medical expert.