Fast Facts: Sandra Day O'Connor
— -- Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was born in El Paso, Texas, on March 26, 1930. She married John Jay O'Connor III in 1952 and has three sons -- Scott, Brian and Jay.
She received her bachelor's and law degrees from Stanford University. She served as deputy county attorney of San Mateo County, Calif., from 1952 to 1953 and as a civilian attorney for Quartermaster Market Center, Frankfurt, Germany, from 1954 to 1957. From 1958 to 1960, she practiced law in Maryvale, Ariz., and served as assistant attorney general of Arizona from 1965 to 1969.
She was appointed to the Arizona State Senate in 1969 and was subsequently re-elected to two two-year terms. In 1975, she was elected judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court and served until 1979, when she was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals. President Reagan nominated her as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, and she took her seat Sept. 25, 1981. She is the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
Her votes are generally conservative, but she frequently surprises observers with her political independence. A quietly determined woman who has blazed new trails for her sex, O'Connor has become a role model for Americans of both sexes and all ages.
During the final action of the Supreme Court to resolve the 2000 presidential election, O'Connor sided with the majority in blocking the hand recount of votes in the state of Florida.
The following are more facts on Supreme Court Justice O'Connor:
Overview
Born: March 26, 1930
Political Party: Republican
Religion: Episcopalian
Time Served on Court: 23 years, 8 months, 28 days
Position: Associate Justice
Nominated By: President Ronald Reagan
Commissioned: Sept. 22, 1981
Sworn In: Sept. 25, 1981
Age at Oath: 51
Court Seat: 9
Senate Vote: 99-0
Literature: "The Changing of the Circuit Justice" (1986) and "Swinford Lecture" (1985)
Key Opinions
Affirmative Action: O'Connor said race can be a factor in admissions, but struck down a strict quota or point system.
Terrorism: O'Connor wrote the 5-4 decision that said that all Americans, even suspected terrorists, had the right to an attorney.
Bush v. Gore: O'Connor voted to stop the recount in Florida during the 2000 elections.
Abortion: She wrote the Court's decision on Planned Parenthood v. Casey on June 29, 1992 that upheld Roe v. Wade. She also wrote the opinion striking down a ban on "partial-birth abortions" in 2000.
Voting Trends
O'Connor votes most often with Chief Justice William Rehnquist (80 percent of the time during the past four years), and least often with senior liberal Justice John Paul Stevens (58 percent of the time during the same period).
In most 5-4 rulings, O'Connor votes with the court's conservatives -- Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Scalia, Kennedy and Thomas. But the percentage of 5-4 rulings in which O'Connor has joined the liberals has risen in recent years, from 5.6 percent in the 1999-2000 term to 28.6 percent in 2002-2003.
This information was compiled by the ABC News Law & Justice Unit.