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.

Justice O’Connor, 75, said she expects to leave before the start of the court’s next term in October, or whenever the Senate confirms her successor. There was no immediate word from the White House on who might be nominated to replace her.

It has been 11 years since the last opening on the court, one of the longest uninterrupted stretches in history.

In a one-paragraph letter to President Bush, she said: “It has been a great privilege indeed to have served as a member of the court for 24 terms. I will leave it with enormous respect for the integrity of the court and its role under our constitutional structure.”

O’Connor’s retirement came amid speculation that the aging court would soon have a vacancy. But speculation has most recently focused on Chief Justice William H Rehnquist, 80, and suffering from thyroid cancer. Rehnquist has offered no public clue as to his plans.

The White House has refused to comment on possible nominees, or whether Bush would name a woman to succeed O’Connor. Her departure leaves Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the only woman among the current justices.

O’Connor’s appointment in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan, quickly confirmed by the Senate, ended 191 years of male exclusivity on the high court.

She wasted little time building a reputation as a hard-working moderate conservative who emerged as a crucial power broker on the nine-member court.