On Politics

Tue Dec 19 2023

Marina Pitofsky | Associate Editor/Politics

Hello OnPolitics readers. Sandra Day O'Connor, the first female Supreme Court justice, was remembered during a funeral service on Tuesday as a "pioneer" who forever shaped the nation's laws.

Nominated by former President Ronald Reagan, O'Connor would become among the court's most influential justices, able to find middle ground in consequential legal issues such as abortion and civil rights during nearly 25 years on the bench, the USA TODAY Network's Ronald J. Hansen and John Fritze reported.

O'Connor died earlier this month at 93 of complications related to dementia and a respiratory illness.

Both President Joe Biden and Chief Justice John Roberts spoke about her legacy at the service. How they remembered her:

Desire for civility: "One need not agree with all her decisions in order to recognize that her principles were deeply held and of the highest order and that her desire for civility was genuine," President Biden said at the Washington National Cathedral.

'Get it done': Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts joked that the high court was like family "composed entirely of in-laws." But O'Connor, he said, cut through the internal tensions with an approach that was simple and direct that he described as, "get it done."