Sandra Day O'Connor: How the First Woman on the Supreme Court Became Its Most Influential Justice Book

I'm not quite sure why I choose to read Sandra Day O'Connor: How the First Woman on the Supreme Court Became Its Most Influential Justice by Joan Biskupic. I think I was looking for another book about her and somehow the library gave me this one. However I happened to stumble upon it, this is a good biography of the first woman jurist of the Supreme Court.

The book is arranged chronologically for the most part. It is well organized and competently written. Sometimes Biskupic will revisit an earlier case but she is very clear about why she is doing this and how it relates to the current discussion. Extensive end notes, an index and a select bibliography make this a good book for source material if you were using it for research. I appreciate that Biskupic, although she seems to admire Sandra Day O'Connor (SDO), has kept that admiration to a minimum. Her tone is neutral throughout, presenting perspectives that both agreed and disagreed with SDO's legal rulings. The author tries to show the significance of SDO's rulings and the affect they had on American law.

My impression of SDO is that she was very no-nonsense and down to earth. She was not introspective at all and once she made a decision, it was done. She did not look back on it later and regret that possibly she had been wrong. Her legal opinion did evolve and some later rulings modified ones she had made earlier. She also didn't seem to have a lot of sympathy for people whose life experiences were different from hers. As a highly educated, upper income, white woman, her opinions seemed to indicate that she could not relate to people with different backgrounds.

Biskupic covers the controversial decision in Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Board'essentially the case in which the Supreme Court picked the next president of the United States instead of voters. The author notes that the judges who usually rule in favor of states' rights over the Federal government (including SDO), reversed course on this case. She also noted that these same judges are all conservatives, including SDO who has been a politically active Republican her entire adult life. While Biskupic doesn't voice her opinion on this, she does present evidence suggesting that SDO's strong ties to the Republican party (and her widely reported disgust over Gore possibly being elected) may have influenced her decision.

Sandra Day O'Connor is an interesting biography. Not only does it provide a comprehensive overview (and often in depth) look at SDO's career on the Supreme Court, but also glimpses inside the Supreme Court and the personalities of the other judges (some of whom are still active). My one solid takeaway from this book is that Supreme Court appointees are political choices. No matter what the current presidential administration may say, the person being considered for a position on the Supreme Court is definitely going to be someone whose political views are aligned with the current occupant of the White House. Although SDO (and the other justices) made their rulings by interpreting and applying Constitutional law and using previous rulings as guidelines, their interpretations will always be made through the lens of their religious upbringing, their personal experiences, values they hold. There will never be a "neutral" justice. Probably the best you can hope for is a Court with a strong moderate/center view willing to acknowledge their biases and be able to make rulings despite that. SDO and the justices did just that when they ruled to uphold Roe v. Wade in the case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey: "Some of us as individuals find abortion offensive to our most basic principles or morality, but that cannot control our decision. Our obligation is to define the liberty of all, not to mandate our own moral code" (272).

I recommend this book if you want an understanding of the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court and to learn about rulings that still affect us today.