SLS’s Deborah Hensler Remembers Justice Sandra Day O’Connor

The first time I met Justice O’Connor was when I worked at RAND. RAND’s Vice-President had arranged to have her speak to me regarding our research on tort litigation. It was probably in the late 1980s, when Congress was battling over tort reform. I remember being impressed by the Justice’s questions and her attentiveness to my answers. I think I expected the meeting to have been more pro forma. I thought she would agree to it for relationship reasons rather than substantive ones. I remember sitting next to her in a sitting room decorated with Western art, and which I thought was very ladylike. I had previously met with Justice Warren Burger, and remember thinking her questions were smarter than his. I was contacted by Justice O’Connor several years later to discuss our research into punitive damages. She asked me a number of questions and again, she posed sensible questions. My favorite memory is from another occasion. I was speaking to a conference about gender bias in federal courts and presenting the results of the research I had done for the 9th Circuit Gender Bias Task Force. Justice O’Connor gave a keynote speech at the conference, as I remember. I went to the ladies’ bathroom during a short break. There was a long queue and, as usual, in public places, the facilities were inadequate for women. Justice O’Connor was in line ahead of me. Justice O’Connor, as we waited for people to exit the stalls with impatience, stepped up and bent down, just like many of us, to check if the stalls were actually occupied. For the first time I realised that someone similar to me was sitting on the Supreme Court bench.