Trail blazer. Pioneer. As John Riggins might famously say, RIP Sandy baby! Sandra Day O'Connor, first woman on the Supreme Court, dies at 93
Regardless of ideology, she was the last Justice that did not come solely from the legal pipeline of being an appellate judge. She had actually been a legislator in Arizona and had far more practical experience in drafting legislation and political compromise. That perspective is sorely missed. It used to be pretty common among Supreme Court justices but is now considered unavailable because it leaves too much ammunition for confirmation battles. But it is certainly a perspective that would be helpful.
She should have had regrets. Gore wouldn’t have invaded afganistan or Iraq and the world would be better off.
Myopic, and cynical, take. Here are the 5-4 decisions (and other decisions) in which she cast the deciding vote, or wrote the majority opinion. Seems she got things correct many times, at least from my perspective. Cases in Which Sandra Day O'Connor Cast the Decisive Vote | American Civil Liberties Union
She was an unhinged partisan (who dabbled in election fraud conspiracy), and she basically stuck the first knife in Roe with Casey. That she came off as a relative moderate is an illustration of how right-wing the court has been for like 40 years.
I am not defending some of the decisions others criticize, but she was fighting a rear guard action against even more extremism. In Bush v. Gore, the five Justice majority was based on equal protection, which was ludicrous. But there was a concurring opinion with three votes that wanted to go even further and apply the independent legislature doctrine, which she thought was nonsense. Thank God that did not become a precedent
Basically, the whole right-wing legal movement has been marinating in doctrines which are ludicrous. They live in an insular closed intellectual society, so they sometimes don't appreciate the potential real world impacts of some of their BS theories. We're dealing with the unitary executive now and we also may see the end of the administrative state. All ridiculous stuff, but all stuff that has been brewing for decades under purchased faux scholarship
Literally saw yesterday that she was alive and was surprised. I was googling something irt the Kissinger thread. Did I alert the universe? @RIP, I need answers!
Societies and social mores change. As do individuals. Obama was 100% against legalizing gay marriage until he wasn't. Clinton passed the devastating 3 strikes you're out law that has penalized 2 generations of mostly young (and black) people. Robert Byrd was a Klansmen. And an "unhinged partisan" wouldn't ever have co-penned the Casey majority in the first place, they would have flipped that 5-4 decision and Roe would have been overturned 30 years before it actually was. Roe was always based on the false premise of this amorphous right to privacy extant somewhere in the penumbra of the Constitution instead of using a far more obvious and sustainable equal protection argument. Blackmun rode the wrong horse to the right finish line, IMO.
Yes, things do change ... in 1991 it was still possible to be a partisan Republican and not have the same position on abortion as the Taliban. GHWB & Barbara were Planned Parenthood donors at one time.
Was having this discussion the other day. Dick Van Dyke is my leader in the clubhouse, followed by Mel Brooks
I guess this beats the opposite, like in the case of Kissinger where people actively talk about how not dead you are being a bad thing.
I'm fully aware of her history and what a wonderful person and jurist she was. She herself has been quoted as saying she regretted her vote in that Gore/Bush case. That was my point. Hardly myopic or cynical.
