Supreme Court Justice quits

JUSTICE Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court and a key swing vote on issues such as abortion and the death penalty, said yesterday she is retiring.

The retirement allows President George Bush to make his first nomination to the Supreme Court. That offers him an opportunity to expand his conservative agenda in the third branch of the US government.

A bruising Senate confirmation struggle looms. Bush’s choice would have to be confirmed by the Senate, where minority Democrats there have blocked several of his judicial nominees.