![]() ![]() In 1952, she finished third out of 102 students in the same class as William Rehnquist, later to be a chief justice, who was the undisputed number one. She was graduated from Stanford University with a degree in economics, then earned her L.L.B. Sandra Day, born in March 1930, grew up on an isolated southeastern Arizona cattle ranch, the "Lazy B," near the town of Duncan, pop. Her personal life included such disparate thrills as being named an honorary member of the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas stroking a hole-in-one on a golf course in her home state and making an impromptu appearance as Queen Isabel in a Shakespeare Theater`s production of Henry V. Aside from being the first woman and 102nd person chosen for the highest court in the land, Sandra Day O`Connor will be remembered for being the decisive vote in close decisions preserving the separation of church and state, upholding abortion rights, and allowing universities to adopt Affirmative Action policies that favor minority applicants. I was blessed to be one of her clerks and, therefore, a part of her extended family.From Arizona cowgirl to a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States is a heady jump for a small-town girl. Her clerks’ children even have a nickname: “SO’C Grandclerk,” which is emblazoned on T-shirts. She often asked about our families and made clerk reunions family events. ![]() She and her husband, John, had an active social calendar in Washington, and she was often on the phone with one of her sons when I would come into her office that year. ![]() She brought her own homemade Southwestern dishes for lunch on Saturdays before argument weeks when we would meet to discuss the cases. daily exercise class she organized in the building. We carved pumpkins for Halloween, visited the cherry blossoms in the spring, went to museums, and at least one clerk had to be the “exercise clerk,” who joined her for the 9 a.m. She imposed an ethos of the “full life” in her chambers. The business of the Court was only part of what SO’C expected of us. Justice O'Connor with Marci Hamilton’s two children, daughter Alex (left) and son Will. I went home to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, for two days that year: Christmas and Easter.ĭespite the pressures, we were held to the highest levels of professionalism. She could not be bullied into changing her mind, though Lord knows that Justice Antonin Scalia tried I watched her rise above pettiness in her personal dealings with others as well as in her opinions for the Court. #Sandra day o connor for kids fullDuring the 1989 term, there were 129 full opinions of the Court, which more than doubles the number from the most recent term, and clerks routinely worked seven days each week. We even drafted her speeches, and she was the most-requested justice in that era. We were expected to produce high-quality research, certiorari pool memos, bench memos, and opinion drafts on time. The work ethic in SO’C’s chambers was intense. Her strength of character made her precisely the right person to be the “first.” Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, or “SO’C,” as her clerks call her, was the first woman to join the United States Supreme Court and held that position with dignity. Marci Hamilton, (right) Fels Institute of Government Professor of Practice and CEO of CHILD USA, clerked for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor from 1989 to 1990. ![]()
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