Justice Sandra Day O’Connor - 4 August 08 Lawtalk Article

The Wellington District Law Society Women in Law Committee was delighted to welcome retired U.S. Supreme Court Judge, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor at an informal gathering on Tuesday 22 July.

Justice O’Connor was in New Zealand for two weeks, and the Judge had a busy itinerary arranged through the Law School of the University of Canterbury, in particular, Professor Stephen Todd.

Justice O’Connor was enjoying catching up with her friends Denis and Anne McLean, whom she knew well from Denis’ posting as New Zealand’s Ambassador to Washington, and with whom she was staying in Wellington.

The Hon Justice Ellen France gave a short speech on behalf of the Judges, the Law Society and the many attendees. In her welcoming remarks the Hon Ellen France referred to Justice O’Connor’s reticence when approached by President Ronald Reagan to be the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court. The Hon Justice Ellen France referred to the pivotal part Justice O’Connor played as the deciding judge in important decisions over the 24 years she was a member of the Supreme Court, and her being a role model for women. With Justice O'Connor's retirement, however, only one woman remains on the U.S. Supreme Court - Ruth Bader Ginsberg who was appointed by President Clinton in 1993.

At 78 years of age, Justice O’Connor addressed the gathering without any notes and with tremendous energy. She first visited New Zealand 30 years ago to walk the Milford Track and was very pleased to be back here.

Justice O’Connor spoke on the history of the development of the rule of law in the United States and the similar systems New Zealand and the United States share.

Justice O’Connor also referred to the importance of the courts being accessible, and people knowing that judges are human. She expressed her concern that about half of the U.S. States do not require civics to be taught at schools. In her retirement Justice O’Connor is working on tools to address this through education, using a computer system based on computer games.

The Justice has seen an entire revolution in her life time – today women have the right to vote and women lawyers can get jobs out of law school. Justice O’Connor commented on the position of women in the law in our respective countries. She is of the view that the position of women in the law in New Zealand is more developed than in the United States. She herself was among the only 1% of the Stanford women who graduated in 1952, and she spoke on the challenges she had trying to get her first job. Today over 50% of law students in the United States are women; and she noted that in New Zealand it is higher.

She observed that a challenge before women is that at some point women will discover they want to have children and a family. She herself had to stop work for 5 years to look after her three children. Justice O’Connor spoke on the importance of women not getting derailed.

Justice O’Connor downplayed her role on the minority of some key Supreme Court decisions, commenting that there is a discretion on which cases to accept to hear and that those cases the Court does choose to hear have good arguments on either side.

She also spoke on the appointment process to the Supreme Court, commenting that the rigorous process of putting questions to, and seeking answers from, nominees is a good one as it gives the public a glimpse of the views held by the nominated Supreme Court Judge.

The Wellington District Law Society is most grateful that Justice Sandra Day O’Connor shared her time with us in Wellington.