Sandra Day O'Connor quotes - page 2

Those who would renegotiate the boundaries between church and state must therefore answer a difficult question: why would we trade a system that has served us so well for one that has served others so poorly? (Sandra Day O'Connor)

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

Sandra Day O'Connor

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.

Sandra Day O'Connor

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

Sandra Day O'Connor

My hope is that 10 years from now, after I've been across the street at work for a while, they'll all be glad they gave me that wonderful vote.

Sandra Day O'Connor

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.

Sandra Day O'Connor

My sense is that jurists from other nations around the world understand that our court occupies a very special place in the American system, and that the court is rather well regarded in comparison, perhaps, to their own.

Sandra Day O'Connor

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

Sandra Day O'Connor

Justice Ginsburg is a very competent justice, and it is a joy to have her on the court, but particularly for me it is a pleasure to have a second woman on the court.

Sandra Day O'Connor

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.

Sandra Day O'Connor

A moment of silence is not inherently religious. (Sandra Day O'Connor)

My concern was whether I could do the job of a justice well enough to convince the nation that my appointment was the right move.

Sandra Day O'Connor

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.

Sandra Day O'Connor

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.

Sandra Day O'Connor

I'm a judge. It seemed to me that it was critical to try to take action to stem the criticism and help people understand that in the constitutional framework, it's terribly important not to have a system of retaliation against decisions people don't like.

Sandra Day O'Connor

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

Sandra Day O'Connor

We pay a price when we deprive children of the exposure to the values, principles, and education they need to make them good citizens.

Sandra Day O'Connor

Society as a whole benefits immeasurably from a climate in which all persons, regardless of race or gender, may have the opportunity to earn respect, responsibility, advancement and remuneration based on ability.

Sandra Day O'Connor

If I stumbled badly in doing the job, I think it would have made life more difficult for women, and that was a great concern of mine and still is.

Sandra Day O'Connor

[C]opyright assures authors the right to their original expression, but encourages others to build freely upon the ideas and information conveyed by a work. [...] This result is neither unfair nor unfortunate. It is the means by which copyright advances the progress of science and art.

Sandra Day O'Connor

The First Amendment expresses our Nation's fundamental commitment to religious liberty by means of two provisions–one protecting the free exercise of religion, the other barring establishment of religion. They were written by the descendents of people who had come to this land precisely so that they could practice their religion freely. Together with the other First Amendment guarantees–of free speech, a free press, and the rights to assemble and petition–the Religion Clauses were designed to safeguard the freedom of conscience and belief that those immigrants had sought. They embody an idea that was once considered radical: Free people are entitled to free and diverse thoughts, which government ought neither to constrain nor to direct. (Sandra Day O'Connor)

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.

Sandra Day O'Connor

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.

Sandra Day O'Connor

I loved my husband very much, and it was heartbreaking to have him develop Alzheimer's disease, and to stand by and watch him decline in his ability to take care of himself.

Sandra Day O'Connor

It was better for me when I was joined at the court by a second woman. When I was there alone, there was too much media focus on the one woman, and the minute we got another woman, that changed.

Sandra Day O'Connor

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Sandra Day O'Connor

Sandra Day O'Connor - Image

Occupation: American Judge
Born: March 26, 1930
Died: December 1, 2023
Quotes count: 72

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