Gentlefolk,

Rather than let the focus of this thread shift away from Justice O'Connor, who has served (I think most would agree) the Supreme Court well during her tenure, why not save discussion of her possible successor for another thread?

Although she was a conservative Arizona politician, she really was quite the swing vote on the court.

Conservative (in the old fashioned use of the word) opinions of hers included the deciding vote in the case of Webster vs. Reproductive Health Services, which upheld a law giving states the right to make specific abortion decisions. This disappointed the judicial activists who had hoped for further restrictions on abortions. In December 2000, she voted against a state-wide recount in Florida, deciding the 2000 presidential election in favor of George Bush.

Her Liberal opinions included voting to invalidate the criminal prohibition of homosexual sodomy in Texas in the case of Lawrence vs. Texas. This decision was far reaching. Judge O'Connor also gave the deciding vote which upheld the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill, which was designed to curb the influence of money in politics.

She seemed to have been a “strict constructionist” in the sense that she assessed each case on its own terms, not as a piece in some over-arching philosophical plan.

I hope her successor will measure up to her standards.

__________________
Eudaimonia