Sandra Day O’Connor, the groundbreaking female U.S. Supreme Court Justice appointed by Ronald Reagan who paved the way for many future female justices, passed away Friday morning. She was 93.
The announcement, made by the court, honored O’Connor for blazing trails as the first female Supreme Court judge in the nation’s history. She was nominated for the bench in 1981 and described then by President Reagan as “truly a person for all seasons, possessing those unique qualities of temperament, fairness, intellectual capacity, and devotion to the public good which have characterized the 101 brethren who have preceded her.”
In 2018, O’Connor made public that she was struggling with dementia, likely Alzheimer’s, a disease that would eventually rob her of the ability to perform basic bodily functions.
“While the final chapter of my life with dementia may be trying, nothing has diminished my gratitude and deep appreciation for the countless blessings of my life,” she wrote.
O’Connor lived long enough to see the Supreme Court take a conservative turn, overturning a 1992 ruling that established the “essential holding” of Roe v. Wade and the right to…
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