In her own words: Sandra Day O'Connor details the civic causes close to her heart
This 2009 interview with Sandra Day O'Connor originally appeared in Arizona Woman magazine, which was published by The Arizona Republic.
Sandra Day O'Connor doesn't see herself as a role model.
"I'm not looking for that now. I will leave that to others," she says.
Instead, O'Connor, 79, projects the common-sense attitude shared by many women her age: Work hard and do your best.
But unlike any other American woman of any age, O'Connor broke through a barrier that kept women off the U.S. Supreme Court until 1981, when President Ronald Reagan decided she would make a good justice.
After her arrival at the nation's most exclusive men's club, O'Connor became — and remains — the symbol of what women can do.
Her role as tiebreaker in cases involving some of the nation's hottest issues also made her one of the most powerful women in the country.
Three years after her retirement from the court in January 2006, O'Connor remains devoted to a variety of causes, nationally and in Arizona. She is working to help the public better understand the role of the judiciary. O'Connor also thinks it is time for Arizona to take a close look at itself, and she hopes this can happen as a result of another of her major post-retirement efforts, the Sandra Day O'Connor Center for Civic Discourse.
Community services is something she uses her reputation to advance.
"When I stepped down from the court, I felt that perhaps I would have a voice with some resonance for a short time," she says.
For her efforts, she has been named AZ magazine's Arizona Woman of the Year for 2009.
Passion for judiciary
Both her resume and her level of self-confidence are intimidating.
Yet her friend of 50 years, Elva Coor, says O'Connor "handles her fame better than anyone I ever met. She's not self-impressed." Coor, wife of former Arizona State University President Lattie Coor, has met her share of famous people.
Mark Neuberger, senior inspector with the U.S. Marshal's judicial security division, has been providing security to O'Connor since 1994.
"I refer to her as a rock star," he says.
"She is recognized wherever she travels," he says. Even when she's running late, she makes time to pose for a picture, sign and autograph or respond to comments from people "who just idolize her," Neuberger says.
O'Connor's voice shows no sign of losing it's considerable resonance with average Americans. She is working to help the public better understand the role of the judiciary.
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Our nation's founders set up an independent judiciary expressly to prevent judges from becoming "politicians in robes," she says. Yet in states where judges are elected, campaign costs are skyrocketing and rhetoric is more about currying political favor than assuring impartial decisions.
Even in Arizona, there have been attempts over the years to undermine the merit-selection system for judges. That system, which O'Connor helped write when she was a member of the state Senate, was approved by voters in 1974. It requires judges on appeals courts statewide and superior courts in Maricopa and Pima counties to be appointed from lists of vetted, qualified candidates. O'Connor is well aware that it remains a target for political reasons.
"Political officeholders, legislators and members of Congress have some very unpleasant things to say about judges and have not been supportive of independent judges," O'Connor says. "That is why I thought it was terribly important to have some educational efforts both at the adult level and at the school-age level."
Those efforts include an interactive Web site aimed at middle-school children. Ourcourts.org (now icivics.org) lets students pose questions that O'Connor answers with online posts. The site offers curriculum for teachers, and it is adding interactive games in which kids can role-play their way to a better understanding of what judges do, says Abigail Taylor, executive director of Our Courts.
O'Connor, she says, was "the moving force behind this."
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Arizona discourse
O'Connor also believes it is time for Arizona to take a look at itself and the issues it faces, and she hopes this can happen as a result of another of her major post-retirement efforts, the Sandra Day O'Connor Center for Civic Discourse.
The home where she and John raised their boys has been moved, brick by brick, to a location near the Arizona Historical Society Museum in Tempe. The goal is to create a place for congenial discussion of political and policy issues.
Coor, who is the chair of the O'Connor House Committee, says O'Connor's pragmatic approach to solving problems will be the model. "We want to turn the O'Connor House into a verb," Coor says. "Much like you 'Google' something online, we will 'O'Connor' a problem."
With Arizona poised to celebrate its centennial in 2012, O'Connor says the project offers a timely way to bring people together to "take stock of the structures of government and see if certain things need changing."
She adds: "I'm not criticizing anyone of saying anything is deficient, I'm just saying that for Arizona's 100th birthday, maybe it's time we took another look to see where we are. It is so easy to coast along year after year with the same thing you have."
Linda Valdez was a longtime opinion writer for The Arizona Republic.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Sandra Day O'Connor, honored in Arizona in 2009, talks about her life
