Webster v. Reproductive Health Services

As chief justice of the United States, William Hubbs Rehnquist oversaw the Supreme Court’s profound shift in a conservative direction after the more liberal leadership of his predecessor, Warren Burger. Rehnquist was born on October 1, 1924, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After serving in the U.S. Army Air Forces from 1943 to 1946, he attended Stanford University in California, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science. After two years at Harvard University, where he earned a second master’s degree in government in 1950, he returned to Stanford to attend law school. There he graduated first in his class in 1952; one of his classmates was his future Supreme Court colleague Sandra Day O’Connor.

After serving as a judicial clerk for Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson during the Court’s 1952–1953 term, Rehnquist settled in Phoenix, Arizona, where he worked at a law firm and became active in Republican Party politics. From 1969 to 1971 he was assistant attorney general in the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. In 1971 President Richard Nixon nominated him for a seat on the Supreme Court; after confirmation by the Senate, Rehnquist assumed his seat in 1972. In 1986 President Ronald Reagan nominated him to the position of chief justice, a position he held, despite ill health in his later years, until his death on September 3, 2005.

Sandra Day O’Connor holds the distinction of being the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. She was born into a ranching family on March 26, 1930, in El Paso, Texas, though she grew up in Arizona, which would be her home state throughout most of her life. She received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Stanford University, in California, in 1950 and remained at Stanford to complete a law degree in 1952—taking two years rather than the normal three.

After completing her law degree, O’Connor was unable to find work as a lawyer in California because of her gender. Although she graduated near the top of her class, the only job she was offered was that of legal secretary. Accordingly, she turned to the public sector. Her first job was as a deputy county attorney in California. She then accompanied her husband to Frankfurt, Germany, to work as a civilian attorney for the military. Returning to the United States, she opened her own law firm near Phoenix, Arizona, and then served four years as the state’s assistant attorney general. She entered the legislative branch of government in 1969 when she was appointed to the Arizona State Senate, to subsequently win two additional terms and serve as the senate’s majority leader. She joined Arizona’s judiciary when she was elected judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court, and she was later appointed to the state’s court of appeals.

On July 7, 1981, President Ronald Reagan nominated O’Connor to the Supreme Court to replace Justice Potter Stewart. Her nomination initially met with some skepticism. Conservatives were concerned that she did not have enough judicial experience, while liberals were concerned that, as a member of the Republican Party, she was not committed to protecting abortion rights. Nonetheless, after being unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate, O’Connor took her seat on September 25, 1981. During her years on the Supreme Court, she proved moderately conservative, frequently voting with the more conservative Rehnquist. In such cases as Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989) and Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission (1990), she carved out pragmatic decisions, examining issues on a case-by-case basis. She was frequently the conservative swing vote on the nine-member Court in closely divided five-to-four decisions.

Unlike most Supreme Court justices, who enjoy lifetime appointments and often do not retire until age and ill health force them to, O’Connor retired from the bench in good health on January 31, 2006, primarily to spend more time with her husband, who was afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease. In the years following her retirement, she became active as a public speaker, focusing on educating the public about the independence of the judiciary.