she is considered a centrist who especially in the '90's was a swing vote toward more liberal rulings.
A frequent swing vote on the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O'Connor was no 'blank check'
Michael Kiefer, Arizona Republic Published 12:33 p.m. MT Oct. 23, 2018 | Updated 4:57 p.m. MT Oct. 23, 2018
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2018/10/23/sandra-day-oconnor-swing-vote-us-supreme-court-roe-v-wade-texas-sodomy-law-bush-v-gore/1537536002/
When Sandra Day O'Connor came to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1981, she was a solid conservative, which is why President Ronald Reagan nominated her.
But back then, being conservative was not a political stance; it wasn't a synonym for Republican. For most of her time there, the Supreme Court was made up almost entirely of Republican appointments.
Then, over the years, as the court shifted farther to the right with subsequent appointments, O'Connor ended up in the middle philosophically. And because she approached each case separately according to its unique facts, she was not predictable as a vote.
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For example, an opinion she authored early into her tenure on the Supreme Court in 1982 dealt with a man who had been denied admission to an all-women's nursing school in Mississippi. Not only was that unequal treatment under the law for the man, she wrote, but also "excluding males from admission to the School of Nursing tends to perpetuate the stereotyped view of nursing as an exclusively women's job."
She had rejected the argument that the women-only policy fostered affirmative action, noting that there was no shortage of nursing school admissions for women.
"Her leanings at that time were largely that she was skeptical of affirmative action that gave preference to one race or another," Blanchard said.
But on the other hand, "she had a deep belief in equality," McGregor said.
Former Arizona state Sen. Alfredo Gutierrez recalled a time when she lobbied for a Navajo legislator who the state Senate tried to exclude from its body. And she was close friends with black justices on the court, including Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas.
Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas laughs
Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas laughs while posing with other court members for a portrait on Nov. 10, 1994, at the court in Washington. Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor are in the front row. (Photo: Associated Press)
Still, she disliked tilting the advantage in either direction based on race.
"She was consistently seeking for the reason for the difference," McGregor said. "She just didn't have any time for such nonsense."
The facts of the case guided her decisions, not a political stance, and she could not be expected to consistently vote with one bloc or another. In 2003, she was the deciding vote in a case upholding affirmative action at the University of Michigan Law School, writing, "It is necessary that the path to leadership be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity."
Similarly, she carefully weighed questions under "the establishment clause" of the Constitution — the separation of church and state in battles over religious symbols in public places.
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