Sandra Day O'Connor: Background and Jurisprudence This paper will discuss the life and jurisprudence of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The first part of the paper will briefly describe her background and career up to the time when she was appointed to the Supreme Court. The second part of the paper will discuss her jurisprudence, focusing upon her decisions in discrimination, abortion, religious freedom, federalism, and freedom of speech.
Sandra Day was born on March 26, 1930, to Harry and Ada Mae Day, cattle ranchers on the Arizona-New Mexico border. She grew up as an introverted bookworm who rode horses and roped steers. When she reached school age, she went to live with her grandmother in El Paso, Texas, so that she could attend the private Radford School. Gradually, her spare time became increasingly occupied with reading. She finished high school at the age of 16 and enrolled at Stanford University in California. She continued her accelerated studies there, finishing both undergraduate and law school in five years. At Stanford Law School, she achieved a spot on the Law Review, where she met her future husband, John O'Connor. She graduated third in her class from the law school in 1952, two places behind William Rehnquist.
However, she soon discovered that her Stanford law degree could not overcome her gender. She received no job offers as an attorney from the major law firms in either San Francisco or Los Angeles, although one offered her a pos
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