U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day OConnor retired from the high court today after 24 years of service. Alliance Defense Fund President, CEO, and General Counsel Alan Sears noted that OConnors retirement presents a unique opportunity for President Bush in selecting the justices replacement.
"Justice OConnors retirement comes at a very critical time in our nations history," said Sears. "Our hope for the new justice is that he or she will interpret the Constitution as it was written and intended by the founders of our nation. The appointment of a Supreme Court justice is often the most lasting legacy of a President, since all appointments are for life or until voluntary retirement."
OConnors retirement leaves the first vacancy on the Supreme Court in eleven years. Whomever President Bush appoints and is confirmed by the Senate will have what many experts see as a profound influence on the future interpretation of the Constitution and American law.
"Justice OConnor leaves a mixed legacy with regard to religious freedom, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family," added Sears. "At times, we were pleased with her rulings, such as in the 1995 Rosenberger decision, the first big Supreme Court victory ADF backed, which led to many legal dominoes falling with regard to equal access. But she became a major proponent of international law, rewrote the Constitution by finding a right for sodomy, and allowed the nightmare of abortion to continue in the Planned Parenthood v. Casey and Stenberg v. Carhart decisions."
Appointed by President Reagan in 1981, OConnor served in the Arizona Senate as well as the Arizona Court of Appeals before becoming the first woman to serve as a justice on the nations highest court.
ADF is Americas largest legal alliance defending religious liberty through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
