VOA News | Friday, December 1, 2023 
Sandra Day O’Connor, First U.S. Female Supreme Court Justice, Dies at 93

Sandra Day O’Connor, who in 1981 became the first woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, died Friday at her home in Arizona. She was 93. In a release, the Supreme Court said O’Connor died from “complications related to advanced dementia, probably Alzheimer’s, and a respiratory illness.” In 2018, O’Connor released a letter saying she had been diagnosed with “the beginning stages of dementia,” suspecting it was Alzheimer’s disease. She announced at that time she was withdrawing from public life. In a statement, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts called O’Connor “a fiercely independent defender of the rule of law.” He added, “Sandra Day O’Connor blazed a historic trail as our Nation’s first female Justice. She met that challenge with undaunted determination, indisputable ability, and engaging candor. We at the Supreme Court mourn the loss of a beloved colleague.” O’Connor was born in El Paso, Texas, March 26, 1930. She married John Jay O’Connor III in 1952. She received her undergraduate and law degrees from Stanford University...Read more