Anup Malani, the Lee and Brena Freeman Professor of Law, served as a law clerk to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court 2001-2002.

Justice O’Connor passed away this morning at 93. This is a moment of sadness, for her family, for her fellow jurists and extended family of clerks, and for the country.

Her life offers a glimpse of America’s economic, social and political development in the last century. She was born and raised on an Arizona ranch, the Lazy B, where she imbibed a self-help culture and trailblazing spirit that captures an important part of our country’s personality. She went to Stanford for college and law school, just as America was moving from a rural to predominantly urban country. The only job offer she received after graduating in 1952 was a secretarial position at an LA law firm. She persisted, working in government and eventually becoming a state senator and then judge. President Reagan appointed her to the US Supreme and she became our first female Justice in 1981. Her path was symbolic of the journey of women in the 20th century: suffrage in 1917, a remarkable rise in labor force participation during and after World War II, the elimination of the gender gap in college education by 1960, and a series of professional firsts for women (astronaut, Vice Presidential nominee, Attorney General, Secretary of State) starting with Justice O’Connor’s investiture in 1981. As a Justice she also played a role in many of the central political and social challenges the country faced this century: battles over abortion and affirmative action, the states rights revolution, Bush v. Gore and the regulation of elections in the US, the tug-of-war between security and civil liberties following 9/11. Justice O’>Connor retired in 2005, to take care of her husband John, who had Alzheimer’s disease. She herself experienced dementia, starting in 2018. In this she experienced the care-taking burdens women face as men age, and the silent pandemic of cognitive decline among the aging Baby Boomers.

Throughout her quintessentially American life, she stood as voice for pragmatism. She played a central role navigating between left and right on the court. She upheld affirmative action in Gritter v. Bollinger (2003), but said she expected that such preferences would not be necessary in 25 years. In her opinions, she stressed the importance of understand the human impact of rulings, with the most notable being her dissent in Atwater v. City of Lago Vista (2001), where she argued that the arrest of a young mother for failing to wear a seatbelt was a violation of the Forth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. Many criticized her for lacking principles, but they were off the mark. Her principle was the need to compromise and come together as a community. She learned this in the Arizona legislature and brought this wisdom to the Supreme Court. After retiring from the bench in 2005, she traveled the country to promote civics education and the need to unify our political community. Her passing is an opportunity to revisit her call for steering a middle path to avoid polarization and damaging culture wars.