On July 1, 2005, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor announced her retirement from the Supreme Court of the United States.

Throughout her 24-year tenure, Justice O’Connor has had a tremendous impact o the lives of American women. Justice O’Connor’s influence on the law has shown how a woman in a leadership position can be far more than a symbol. Her opinions and her swing vote on the Court have made a significant difference in areas of law that are critical to women’s lives, including gender equity, privacy, and choice:

-In her first term, she cast the deciding vote in a case making clear that the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause provides strong protection against sex discrimination. The Court ruled 5-4 that a state university in Mississippi could not exclude men from admission to its nursing school based on gender stereotypes. These principles later led the Court to strike down the Virginia Military Institute’s exclusion of women on the ground that women weren’t tough enough to succeed.

-She has made it easier for women subjected to sexual harassment on the job to prevail in lawsuits under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. She wrote, “Title VII comes into play before the harassing conduct leads to a nervous breakdown.” What is obvious now wasn’t enshrined in the law until Justice O’Connor said it.

-Justice O’Connor delivered the swing vote in two groundbreaking cases involving Title IX, the landmark law banning sex discrimination in education. In a 5-4 decision, she wrote that Title IX protects a student from sexual harassment by another student when the school authorities have deliberately failed to act. Just this year, her 5-4 majority held that Title IX protects teachers and coaches from retaliation by their schools for objecting to discriminatory treatment of their female students.

-She also wrote the Court’s 5-4 opinion in the landmark case that upheld the right of public universities to promote diversity by taking race into account in admissions, making affirmative action permissible on the basis of sex as well – so important in areas where women remain dramatically under-represented, such as science, engineering and technology.

-Justice O’Connor also has been pivotal in upholding the core protections of Roe v. Wade. In 2000, she was the swing vote striking down a Nebraska law that would have in effect banned abortion as early as the 12th week of pregnancy and that lacked any exception to protect a woman’s health.

The National Women’s Law Center website is http://www.nwlc.org

www.liwomen.com
August 2005