'She brought us all together.' Sandra Day O'Connor makes final journey to Supreme Court

WASHINGTON − Members of the Supreme Court and the public remembered the late Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on Monday as a historic figure who cared deeply about how the law affected Americans and who sought out practical answers to some of the nation's most challenging legal questions.

"We are here today to mark the passing of a truly remarkable person to honor and remember Sandra not only for her work as a judge, but for her humanity, leadership, determination, and vision," Justice Sonia Sotomayor said during a private ceremony at the Supreme Court. "She brought us all together."

O'Connor's casket arrived at the Supreme Court on a blustery morning in Washington and was carried up the steps as her former law clerks lined the path. All nine current justices stood in the Great Hall during a private ceremony. Members of the public will pay their respects throughout the day with O'Connor lying in repose.

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O'Connor, the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court, died Dec. 1 in Arizona at 93 after battling dementia for years. Nominated by President Ronald Reagan, she served on the Supreme Court from 1981 until 2006.

"Today, I know she is smiling, knowing that four sisters serve on her court," Sotomayor said. "For the four of us and for so many others of every background and aspiration, Sandra was a living example that women could take on any challenge, could more than hold their own in spaces dominated by men, and could do so with grace."

In addition to Sotomayor, Justices Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson are the other women who sit on the Supreme Court.

O’Connor’s casket was rested on the Lincoln catafalque, built in 1865 for President Abraham Lincoln. The last justice to lie in repose at the court was Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the leader of the court’s liberal wing who died in 2020.

Daniel Bussel, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, clerked for O’Connor during the 1986-87 term “just the time when she was blossoming into her role as the center of the court.”

“It was an amazing experience. We were like a family. For that year, you worked incredibly intensively. ... The pressure at the Supreme Court is enormous,” he said, noting they often worked 16 hours a day six days a week.

“She knew she was working us to death, and she didn’t in any way feel bad about that. But the compensation for it was she cared what you thought about this stuff. She brought you into the process. You were fully part of her process of deciding the cases. That’s such a privilege for a young lawyer to be at the knee of this very powerful person as she’s deciding the most important legal issues of the day.”

Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Douglas Emhoff were among the government officials who paid their respects. Harris stood before O'Connor's casket for a few minutes before walking over to admire O'Connor's portrait hanging nearby.

'Class and dignity'

“She was the absolute first and she did it with class and dignity,” said Betsy Thompson, a Washington tour guide who came to pay her respects. “She made good decisions based on the facts.”

Thompson didn’t like O'Connor's decision to join the majority in Bush v. Gore, the 2000 ruling that effectively handed the presidency to George W. Bush. Even so, she wanted to honor O’Connor’s overall work.

“That’s democracy. It’s important to accept the results and move on,” Thompson said.

After the Monday tribute at the court, a service will be held for O’Connor on Tuesday at the Washington National Cathedral. President Joe Biden will deliver remarks at that ceremony.

Lauren Stiller Rikleen, a Massachusetts-based lawyer and author of “Her Honor – Stories of Challenge and Triumph from Women Judges,” said O’Connor made history as the first woman but also provided an enviable template for justices.

“I think her legacy is sitting as a Supreme Court justice without an agenda,” Rikleen said. “She never took the law so far ahead of where the public was on her decision-making.”

O’Connor stands out more than ever as “an independent justice who respected precedent and had an instinctive understanding of where the court should seek common ground,” she said.

Rikleen, who consults organizations on ensuring workplace diversity, praised O’Connor for helping bring about overdue opportunities for women.

“Of course, there’s been a lot of progress,” she said. “But you can’t rest on that.”

Bussel, who is planning to be among the clerks on hand for O’Connor’s services in Washington, said she fostered a closeness with her staffers that combined the pressure of often being the pivotal vote on the court and the warmth of a caring mentor.

“You’re like a little family and you’re in this intense period and she cared about you as an individual. She wanted to know about your family, and she wanted to know how you were holding up under the pressure,” he said. “She brought us into her home and introduced us to her family. We felt part of the O’Connor family as well as part of the chamber’s family.”

O’Connor’s staffers have distinguished themselves over the decades since they served to her.

About three dozen of them became law professors, according to biographies tracked by the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute in Phoenix. At least six became federal appellate judges, one rung below the Supreme Court. Two of her former clerks became chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, Ruth McGregor and Scott Bales.

Scott O’Connor, one of O’Connor’s three sons, was impressed by the gathering expected of that extended family on Monday.

Of the 108 people who clerked for O’Connor at the Supreme Court, 80 of them are expected to be on hand for her service on Monday, he said.

“How’s that for a tribute?” Scott O’Connor said. “That’s considering that a couple of them have passed away. They’re coming there from coast to coast to rally for her.”

On vacation from Texas, absorbing history

Texas resident Leslie Housmans, 54, was vacationing in Washington and felt it was an opportunity to absorb history.

“As I told my youngest, we should go by and pay our respects because she lived an amazing life,” she said. “It’s always inspiring as a young female to see a woman doing something no other woman has done before. I appreciate it.

“It has paved the way for women, but I wish there would be more women to come forward because I feel like there’s not enough representation of women. … It’s just a little different perspective they could add.”

Her son, Bronson Housmans, 22, who is a student at the University of Arizona, wanted to mark the occasion. “I knew that she was a justice from Arizona,” he said. “I just knew about her service to the country and wanted to respect that today.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Sandra Day O'Connor makes a final journey to the Supreme Court