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Sandra Day O'Conner was born on March 26, 1930, in El Paso, Texas. She attended Stanford University and received BA in economics in 1950. She continued her studies at Stanford for a law degree. She received her law degree in two years, a year less than the usual three, and graduated third in her class out of one hundred two students. She met a fellow student, John Jay O’ Connor III, while working as an editor at the Stanford Law Review. They were wed soon after graduation and moved to Phoenix, Arizona.
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From 1965- 1969, O’ Connor served as an Arizona assistant attorney general. Then she was appointed to a spot in the Arizona Senate. In 1974, she ran for trial judge where she won and held that position for five years until 1979. In 1979, she was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals. On July 7, 1981, she was nominated by Ronald Reagan for a spot on the Supreme Court. In September 1981 she started her job as the 102nd Supreme Court Justice and its first female justice.
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While on the Supreme Court, Justice O‘Connor generally voted conservative but often surprised people with her ‘political independence.’ She made it clear that she thought the Supreme Court was there to interpret the law, not to legislate.
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On July 1, 2005, Justice O'Connor announced her retirement after twenty-four years of faithful service to the Supreme Court.
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"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
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