O'Connor's pioneering role in history set, but will her rulings last?

Published: 2005-07-08

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Justice Sandra Day O'Connor may have served a crucial centrist role on the Supreme Court for her 24 terms, but the jury will apparently be out for a while when it comes to defining her legacy there. When O'Connor, 75, announced July 1 that she would step down as soon as her replacement has been confirmed, commentators began evaluating her judicial career. Many were complimentary about her pioneering role as the first woman on the court and her knack for carving out a narrow consensus amid the dramatically different views of her fellow justices. Over the last 10 years, O'Connor has voted in the majority on 5-4 decisions 77 percent of the time, more than any other justice, according to data compiled by Georgetown University Law Center's Supreme Court Institute. Depending upon who replaces O'Connor on the court, some of those narrow rulings may be ripe for reversal, according to a panel of Georgetown law professors at a July 7 program at the Law Center on her legacy.

Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .