Mon Sep 13 | Trailer | Sandra Day O’Connor: The First | American Experience | PBS

Discover the story of the Supreme Court’s first female justice. A pioneer who both reflected and shaped an era, she was the deciding vote in cases on some of the 20th century’s most controversial issues—including race, gender and reproductive rights.

When Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O’Connor as the Supreme Court’s first female justice in 1981, the announcement dominated the news. Time Magazine’s cover proclaimed “Justice At Last,” and she received unanimous Senate approval. Born in 1930 in El Paso, Texas, O’Connor grew up on a cattle ranch in Arizona in an era when women were expected to become homemakers. After graduating near the top of her class at Stanford Law School, she could not convince a single law firm to interview her, so she turned to volunteer work and public service. A Republican, she served two terms in the Arizona state senate, then became a judge on the state court of appeals. During her 25 years on the Supreme Court, O’Connor was the critical swing vote on cases involving some of the 20th century’s most controversial issues, including race, gender and reproductive rights — and she was the tiebreaker on Bush v. Gore. Forty years after her confirmation, this biography recounts the life of a pioneering woman who both reflected and shaped an era.

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[ronthesinger]

It says something that my country, the Philippines, declared its independence 122 years after the US, and yet we had our first female Supreme Court justice (Cecilia Muñoz-Palma) 8 years ahead of the US, in 1973, and the first female president (Corazon Aquino) at least 39 years ahead of the US, in 1986. A big fan of what you do for the public though, American Experience!

[ramasubramaniankrishnamoor]

Santra is an American retired attorney and politician who served female association justice of the supreme Court states 1981 to 2006 confirmed to the court.