Former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor lying in repose at Supreme Court
Former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who died age 93 on Dec. 1, will lie in repose Monday at the Supreme Court so the public can pay their respects.
Former Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is lying in repose Monday at the Supreme Court so the public can pay their respects ahead of a funeral service tomorrow at the Washington National Cathedral.
The Supreme Court first held a private ceremony at 9:30 a.m. ET with Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Rev. Jane Fahey – who once clerked for Justice O’Connor – as speakers. O’Connor is now viewable from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. inside the building’s Great Hall.
O’Connor, who was the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court, died in Phoenix on Dec. 1 at the age of 93. The Court said O’Connor passed due to "complications related to advanced dementia, probably Alzheimer’s, and a respiratory illness."
O'Connor is remembered as a history-making woman, a pragmatic conservative, a keen legal mind and a beloved mother and grandmother.
SANDRA DAY O’CONNOR, FORMER SURPREME COURT JUSTICE, DEAD AT 93
She was appointed to the Court in 1981 by former President Reagan. O'Connor stepped down in 2006 from the bench, but she remained an active and public voice for a variety of causes, including judicial independence and civics education.
In 2018, the then 88-year-old revealed in a letter released to the public that she was in the early stages of dementia.
REAGAN HISTORIAN LOOKS BACK AT O’CONNOR APPOINTMENT
Following her death, current Supreme Court Justices hailed O’Connor as being a trailblazer, an "American hero" and "hugely influential."
"A daughter of the American Southwest, Sandra Day O’Connor blazed an historic trail as our Nation’s first female Justice. She met that challenge with undaunted determination, indisputable ability, and engaging candor," Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr. said in a statement.
"I mourn the passing of another American hero. When Sandra Day O’Connor, the 'cowgirl from out west,' became the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court, she changed the world and made history," Justice Sonia Sotomayor added. "Indeed, her entire life was pathbreaking. She served in all three branches of government, was a brilliant champion of women’s rights, and promoted civic education in a way that transformed how children learn about our shared responsibility as citizens."
Fox News' Bill Mears, Shannon Bream and Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
