Chief Justice praises Justice O’Connor as a “righteous icon in the law”

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor yesterday announced in a letter her retirement from public life.  In the past, Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye has publicly spoken of Justice O’Connor’s important influence on her own career.  The Chief Justice today provided to At The Lectern this statement about O’Connor:

I wish Justice O’Connor the best in her retirement from public life. When she was named as the first woman to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1981, I was a first-year law student at King Hall, UC Davis. Her appointment meant the world to me and to many of my classmates: It symbolized equality, fairness, and merit-based recognition. Justice O’Connor is a righteous icon in the law who has not only shaped our rights with her influential position on the highest court but also illuminated and inspired the path of many female professionals in the law. Her visionary national civic leadership for young people is yet another example of her unparalleled greatness. One of the highlights of my role as Chief Justice was to serve with her in civics issues and she was one reason why I volunteered in classrooms when I was a judge and why I began the civic learning initiative when I became Chief Justice in 2011.