Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to lie in repose at Supreme Court

The first woman to serve on the Supreme Court will be remembered on Monday steps from where she served her nation.

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Justice Sandra Day O’Connor will lie in repose in the Supreme Court’s Great Hall, The Associated Press reported.

Her casket will pass under the court’s pediment which reads “Equal Justice Under Law” on its way to the hall. A private ceremony will be held before the building is open to visitors from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., The Washington Post reported.

A portrait of the justice from 1999 will be on display next to her casket.

O’Connor’s funeral will be held on Tuesday at Washington National Cathedral. Both President Joe Biden and Chief Justice John Roberts are scheduled to give remarks during the ceremony.

The service is invitation-only, the Post reported.

O’Connor was nominated by President Ronald Reagan and was confirmed by the Senate in 1981. At one point she was called the most powerful woman in the U.S., receiving more letters during her first year than any other justice in history, the AP reported.

Her track record showed her ruling in favor of states over the federal government and the police when accused of violating people’s rights. She also sided with the majority to uphold Roe v. Wade, saying women had a constitutional right to abortion. Roe was overturned last year with the majority opinion written by the person who replaced O’Connor — Justice Samuel Alito, the AP reported.

O’Connor was a rancher’s daughter, driving equipment on the family farm and rounding up cattle. She graduated from Stanford’s law school with a top ranking but found that getting a job as a lawyer was tough because firms did not hire women in the early 1950s. Instead of practicing law, one firm offered the job of secretary.

Eventually, she became a lawmaker in Arizona and a state judge. She took her seat at the Supreme Court when she was 51 and served until 75, saying that she had to care for her husband who had Alzheimer’s disease. He died in 2009.

Despite retiring she still served as a judge on federal appeals courts, pushing for judicial independence and serving on the Iraq Study Group.

She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2009.

O’Connor died in Phoenix from complications related to dementia and a respiratory illness. She is survived by her three sons, six grandchildren, and her brother.

O’Connor was 93 years old, the Post reported.

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Through the years (Original Caption) Sandra Day O'Connor (right) is shown in family album picture from Easter 1940, taken on family ranch. Her mother, Ada Mae Day, holds brother Alan, who now runs the ranch. Sister Ann is in middle. President Reagan has nominated Mrs. O'Connor to the U.S. Supreme Court. (Bettmann/Bettmann Archive)

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Justice Sandra Day O'Connor lies in repose at the Supreme Court Members of the public, right, line up to pay respects to retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor at the Supreme Court in Washington, Monday, Dec. 18, 2023. O'Connor, an Arizona native and the first woman to serve on the nation's highest court, died Dec. 1 at age 93. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)