A New Order in the Court: Sandra Day O'Connor

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The pomp followed. O'Connor was escorted to the ornate marble-and-mahogany courtroom. While 500 invited guests looked on, she was seated in the chair once occupied by John Marshall, the Chief Justice (1801 -1835) who introduced the principle of judicial review of executive and legislative acts, establishing the court's authority in the fledgling nation. The bailiff cried the traditional "oyez, oyez," and the eight Justices stood silently behind the wooden bench. O'Connor then took a second oath ("I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States ..."), and a clerk of the court helped Justice O'Connor slip on a black robe over her lavender-colored dress. With a quick smile and a sure step, O'Connor took her place beside her colleagues. Like the opinions she has handed down in her two years on the Arizona State Court of Appeals, the ceremony was brief (six minutes) and precise. The robe was the same one she had worn while on the Arizona bench, and looked a bit tatty. "I'll buy a new one eventually," she promised. "They do get old, you know."

O'Connor took up the burdens of her new job immediately. She had been closeted in an office in the Senate for days boning up for the cases likely to come before her. She also hired four law clerks, three of whom had been promised jobs by Justice Stewart, whose retirement had opened a spot on the court for her.

Earlier in the week, O'Connor mused that "Thomas Jefferson and James Madison would be turning over in their graves." Who can be sure? But there is little doubt that those founding fathers would marvel at the ease, graciousness and widespread public approval with which this particular Justice has become a precedent. —By Richard Stengel.

Reported by Evan Thomas/Washington