O'Connor, right, was born March 26, 1930, in El Paso, Texas. Her parents were ranchers. Her mother, Ada Mae, is seen on the left holding Sandra's brother, Alan. Sandra's sister, Ann, is in the middle.
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O'Connor is seen second from left in the first row as she poses with other members of her Stanford Law School class in 1952. Another future Supreme Court justice, William Rehnquist, is in the back row on the far left.
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Upon graduating from law school, O'Connor was turned down by law firms because of her sex. Eventually, she started her own firm with her husband, John. Later, she served as an Arizona state senator as the first female majority leader. She was a judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court and, in 1979, the Arizona Court of Appeals.
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O'Connor poses with her family after she was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1981. With her, from left, are her son Jay, son Brian, husband John and son Scott.
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In nominating O'Connor for the bench in 1981, President Ronald Reagan called O'Connor "truly a person for all seasons, possessing those unique qualities of temperament, fairness, intellectual capacity, and devotion to the public good which have characterized the 101 brethren who have preceded her."
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O'Connor is sworn in for her confirmation hearings in 1981.
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O'Connor waves outside the US Capitol shortly after her nomination was confirmed by the Senate.
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O'Connor is sworn in by Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger in 1981. Her husband, John, is holding two family Bibles.
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O'Connor stands in front of the Supreme Court after being sworn in as its first-ever female justice.
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O'Connor is seen in her chambers 10 days after she was sworn in.
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O'Connor poses with other Supreme Court justices for an official photo in 1982. With O'Connor in the back row, from left, are John Paul Stevens, Lewis F. Powell Jr. and William Rehnquist. In the front row, from left, are Thurgood Marshall, William J. Brennan Jr., Chief Justice Warren Burger, Byron White and Harry Blackmun.
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O'Connor and her husband, John, visit the Great Wall of China in 1987.
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O'Connor, sitting next to fellow Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, shakes hands with US Sen. Warren Bruce Rudman before a subcommittee meeting in 1992.
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O'Connor dances with her husband, John, at a ball in Washington, DC, in 1998.
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During her tenure, the court for a time was known informally as the "O'Connor Court" because she served as the deciding vote in so many controversial cases. She was perhaps best noted for her vote in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a 1992 opinion that reaffirmed a woman's right to an abortion. Under the new ruling a state could not impose an "undue burden" on a woman seeking an abortion. The opinion would be overturned in 2022 by a conservative court bolstered by three of President Donald Trump's nominees.
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O'Connor and fellow Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg are surrounded by statues of men as they pose together at the US Capitol in 2001.
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From left, O'Connor, Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justice Anthony Kennedy take part in a groundbreaking ceremony at the Supreme Court in 2003. The court's facilities were being modernized.
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O'Connor is joined by President George W. Bush, left, as she swears in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in 2005. Gonzales' mother, Maria, is second from left and his wife, Rebecca, is second from right.
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O'Connor receives applause after she spoke at a judicial conference in Spokane, Washington, in 2005. This was a few weeks after she announced that she would be retiring from the court to care for her husband, who was ailing from Alzheimer's disease.
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O'Connor weeps as pallbearers carry the casket of former Chief Justice William Rehnquist in 2005. Rehnquist was her classmate at Stanford Law School, and the two once dated.
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O'Connor waves during the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, in 2006. She was accompanied by her grandchildren.
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O'Connor speaks at the Justice Department in 2006 as part of an event for Women's History Month.
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O'Connor receives the Lincoln Medal from President George W. Bush in 2008.
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O'Connor speaks at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, in 2008.
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O'Connor talks with Solicitor General Elena Kagan during a forum in Washington, DC, in 2009. Kagan was nominated to the Supreme Court in 2010.
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President Barack Obama presents O'Connor with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.
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O'Connor and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg attend a Women's Conference in Long Beach, California, in 2010.
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O'Connor tours an exhibit about her at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2011. Growing up on the Lazy B Ranch in Arizona, O'Connor was known for her self-reliance and independence, traits she acquired as a young woman branding cattle, driving tractors and firing rifles.
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O'Connor testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2012. She spoke to the necessity for civics education in maintaining an independent judiciary. She also expressed doubt about the process in some states of electing judges, and about the validity of asking Supreme Court nominees how they would vote in the future.
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O'Connor receives the Anam Cara Award at the Irish Cultural Center in Phoenix in 2014.
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