Quick, name all nine current Supreme Court justices! (OK, name as many as you can.)
Source: Wikimedia via the Oyez Project
Here they are:
Chief Justice: John G. Roberts
Associate Justices: Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan
How did you do?
I’ll give you partial credit if you mentioned any of these retired justices: John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter, Sandra Day O’Connor.
I’ll give you extra credit if you have any idea why I’m asking you about Supreme Court justices in the first place.
Answer: 30 years ago today, the Senate Judiciary committee approved Sandra Day O’Connor’s nomination to the Supreme Court; she officially took her seat 10 days later. What’s so significant about that? That’s happened basically every few years for the last two centuries or so!
Why, yes, it has. BUT: When Sandra Day O’Connor was confirmed, she became the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court, after nearly two hundred years of being an all-male institution! (Two years later, O’Connor somewhat famously replied to a New York Times editorial that had referred to the Supreme Court as “the nine men” who interpret the laws. We won’t get into a heavy political debate here, but whether or not you agree with any her opinions, her influence is hard to deny. Over the 25 years she served on the Supreme Court, she gained a reputation for being the deciding vote in many cases.
If you’re interested in further reading about Sandra Day O’Connor, here are some suggestions:
| Jake Gauslow |
| Adult Services Librarian | |
| jgauslow@friscotexas.gov |
Tags: Frisco Public Library, glass ceilings, History, Supreme Court
