It was better for me when I was joined at the court by a second woman. When I was there alone, there was too much media focus on the one woman, and the minute we got another woman, that changed.
SANDRA DAY O'CONNORIf parents instill a sense of civic-mindedness – and there is no better way to do that than by example – their children will probably follow.
More Sandra Day O'Connor Quotes
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I like to think that the court will continue to be held in high regard by the public. I think it should be.
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I think I learned to appreciate and treasure each day, because you don’t know how many you’re going to be given.
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Society as a whole benefits immeasurably from a climate in which all persons, regardless of race or gender, may have the opportunity to earn respect, responsibility, advancement and remuneration based on ability.
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If I stumbled badly in doing the job, I think it would have made life more difficult for women, and that was a great concern of mine and still is.
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It is true that as you have children, there are a good many months when you don’t want to be working full-time. I agree that that’s an issue.
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I finally gave up my little law practice and stayed home for about three years. You have to do what you can to keep the family going. But I wanted to get back to work. So I got another babysitter and went to work as an Assistant Attorney General.
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What was a problem was the excessive amount of media attention to the appointment of the first woman and everything she did. Everywhere that Sandra went, the press was sure to go. And that got tiresome; it was stressful.
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If statistics are any indication, the system may well be allowing some innocent defendants to be executed.
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We expect that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today.
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Unfortunately civility is hard to codify or legislate, but you know it when you see it. It’s possible to disagree without being disagreeable.
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The freedom to criticize judges and other public officials is necessary to a vibrant democracy.
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I’m not on the court anymore, so no use looking for my philosophy. If somebody’s waiting for that, they can wait for another justice.
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The freedom to criticize judges and other public officials is necessary to a vibrant democracy. The problem comes when healthy criticism is replaced with more destructive intimidation and sanctions.
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If parents instill a sense of civic-mindedness – and there is no better way to do that than by example – their children will probably follow.
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The fact is that knowledge about the Constitution and the Court is not something that is handed down through the gene pool; every generation has to learn it. And I’m not sure the recent generations have done that good a job of learning about it.
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