Sandra Day O’Connor first woman to serve on the Supreme Court passes away at 93

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, 71, celebrates the 20th anniversary of her appointment to the Supreme Court with the first “Carol Los Mansmann Award for Distinguished Public Service” at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pa. Friday, Sept. 21, 2001. (AP Photo/John Heller)
Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor talks with her husband John while Duquesne University Chancellor John Murray (right) applauds after viewing a video presentation of O’Connor’s career on Friday, Sept. 21, 2001. Mrs. O’Connor was presented at the university with the first Carol Los Mansmann Award for Distinguished Public Service. (Post-Gazette Archive)
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor poses for photos on the steps of the Supreme Court before being sworn in with her family on Sept. 26, 1981. From left are: Justice O’Connor’s father, Harry Day; her husband, John J. O’Connor; her mother, Ada Mae Day; O’Connor; Chief Justice Warren Burger; and her sons, Brian, Jay and Scott. O’Connor, who joined the Supreme Court in 1981 as the nation’s first female justice, has died at age 93. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty, File)
Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor poses with Chief Justice Warren Burger after her swearing-in at the Supreme Court in Washington, Sept. 25, 1981. O’Connor, who joined the Supreme Court in 1981 as the nation’s first female justice, has died at age 93. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, File)
President Reagan presents his Supreme Court nominee Sandra Day O’Connor to members of the press in the White House Rose Garden, July 15, 1981, prior to their Oval Office meeting. O’Connor, who joined the Supreme Court in 1981 as the nation’s first female justice, has died at age 93. (AP Photo, File)
Supreme Court nominee Sandra Day O’Connor is shown speaking before a Senate hearing on her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court in a Sept. 9, 1981 file photo. O’Connor, who joined the Supreme Court in 1981 as the nation’s first female justice, has died at age 93. (AP Photo/ John Duricka, File)
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is shown before administering the oath of office to members of the Texas Supreme Court, Jan. 6, 2003, in Austin, Texas. O’Connor, who joined the Supreme Court in 1981 as the nation’s first female justice, has died at age 93.(AP Photo/Harry Cabluck, File)
Supreme Court nominee Sandra Day O’Connor smiles during her appearance, Sept. 11, 1981, before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill. O’Connor who joined the Supreme Court in 1981 as the nation’s first female justice, has died at age 93.(AP Photo/J.Scott Applewhite, File )
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee confer prior to voting to recommend the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Sandra Day O’Connor, to the full Senate for confirmation, Sept. 15, 1981, Washington. From left, Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., Sen. Robert Dole, R-Kan., Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., second from right. Biden knows better than anyone the unexpected turns a Supreme Court nomination can take after it lands on Capitol Hill. (AP Photo/Ira Schwarz, File)
Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor speaks after receiving the Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official during a ceremony at the American Institute for Public Service Jefferson Awards Tuesday, June 22, 2004, in Washington. (AP Photo/Adele Starr)
Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Sandra Day O’Connor gestures while speaking to members of the 2004 9th Circuit Judicial Conference Thursday, July 22, 2004, in Monterey, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
Supreme Court nominee Sandra Day O’Connor raises her right hand to be sworn in before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 9, 1981. (AP Photo/John Duricka)
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor listens Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg pays tribute to O’Connor’s advocacy work on behalf of civic education, impact on female judges and justice for women and girls worldwide at the Seneca Women Global Leadership Forum at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, on Wednesday, April 15, 2015 in Washington. (Photo by Kevin Wolf/Invision for Seneca Women/AP Images)
In this Sept. 17, 2014 file photo, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor speaks during a lecture, in Concord, N.H. O’Connor, the first woman on the Supreme Court, says she has the beginning stages of dementia and “probably Alzheimer’s disease.” O’Connor made the announcement in a letter Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018. She said that her diagnosis was made “some time ago” and that as her condition has progressed she is “no longer able to participate in public life.” (AP Photo/Jim Cole, File)