Forward NYCR Honors Prominent Women During Womens History Month ; Sandra Day O’Connor
Sandra Day O’Connor was born on March 26 , 1930 in El Paso , Texas. Nominated by President Reagan , she is a retired associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was the first woman to serve in that position.
Before being nominate to SCOTUS , she was an elected official in Arizona serving as the first female majority leader of a state senate. Considered a federalist and a Moderate Republican, O’Connor tended to approach each case narrowly without arguing for sweeping precedents. She most frequently sided with the court’s conservative bloc, although in the latter years of her tenure, she was regarded as having the swing opinion in many cases.
On August 12, 2009 , she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom , the highest civilian honor of the United States , by President Barack Obama.