Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court and a key swing vote on issues such as abortion and the death penalty, said Friday she is retiring.
O’Connor, 75, said she expects to leave before the start of the court’s next term in October, or whenever the Senate confirms her successor. There was no immediate word from the White House on who might be nominated to replace O’Connor.
It’s been 11 years since the last opening on the court, one of the longest uninterrupted stretches in history. O’Connor’s decision gives Bush his first opportunity to appoint a justice.
It’s do-or-die time. With a Republican Senate, if we don’t have the guts to put in a strong Supreme Court justice on the order of Scalia or Thomas, then something is more than seriously wrong with the GOP. It will have lost my confidence at the national level altogether.
Replacing O’Connor with a strong voice that respects the rule of law (a natural law advocate such as Scalia or Thomas) would be outstanding. Best case scenario IMO.