The passing of Ms. O’Connor should not go unnoticed. She was the epitome of what we casually call a “patriot”. Despite graduating at the top of her Stanford Law School class, she encountered typical female discrimination when the only job she was offered was that of a secretary. Apparently, all the genius male lawyers assumed she had little substance to offer. Well, she certainly proved them wrong. And it for that glass ceiling breakage and her eventual role as the first female Justice of the Supreme Court that we honor her. Think about it. Black male slaves were afforded the right to vote in 1870 but females were not allowed the same inalienable right until 1920. She transcended that stereotype and even soared above her male detractors. Our point is this: we’ve finally recognized that gender is not a determinant of worth. That required the passage of 50 years. But now SCOTUS faces another evolutionary step. Since the days of Ms. O’Connor and her companion justices the Supreme Court has disintegrated to the level that only 29% of Americans trust and have confidence in their decisions. That’s not progressive–that’s regressive. Maybe that’s why we chose to honor her in this post. She would not have been compatible with today’s court and that’s a very high compliment.
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