Sandra Day O'Connor

I got to go to this yesterday.

It's interesting how the article (particularly the opening paragraphs) makes it sound as if affirmative action was main topic of the hour. It doesn't mention O'Connor's remarks on "activist" judges, "swing votes" on the Court, the independence of the judiciary, and the percentage of female Supreme Court law clerks.

The article does briefly mention O'Connor's stories of trying to get her first job in an era when few lawyers were women. After graduating from Stanford, she finally managed to get an interview at a law office in Los Angeles--only to be asked about her typing skills and told that she could possibly work as a secretary in the firm.

Ironically, O'Connor was later asked to speak at the firm's 100th anniversary celebration. And the U.S. Attorney General who called and asked if she would be willing to consider the nomination to the Supreme Court was a former partner in that firm.