I’ve spent the last few days ripping Henry Kissinger a new one and urging you not to call them conservatives. Today we’re honoring a true conservative who served her country well. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has died at the age of 93.

Justice O’Connor was a pioneer: the first woman appointed to the high court. She was recommended to President Reagan by her law school friend William Rehnquist and her home state Senator Barry Goldwater. Both those Arizonans were to the right of O’Connor who became the crucial swing vote on the court.

Unlike Sam The Sham and the Federalist Society Pharaohs, Justice O’Connor was concerned about the real world consequences of the court’s rulings. Most significantly with the Casey vs. Planned Parenthood case in which she and Justice David Souter rescued Roe vs. Wade.

O’Connor and Souter’s apostasy on that abortion case inspired the Federalist Society to ramp up their efforts to put right-wingers on the court. Justice O’Connor didn’t care. She was a practical person who tried to do the right thing in her opinions. She didn’t always succeed but she was an honorable and diligent justice as well as a genuinely kind human being.

I took some flak for praising Justice O’Connor in an earlier post. I have no regrets. She was a fine justice and an even better human being. She didn’t even mind when  Washington Redskins superstar John Riggins drunkenly told her to “loosen up, Sandy, baby” at a party in 1985. As always, she was unphased. It was also ironic for her to be told to loosen up: the O’Connors were famous for their cocktail parties.

The Supreme Court is in disrepute today. Justice O’Connor represented the court at its finest. She was a practical and sensible jurist who gave centrism a good name. Thank you for your service, Madam Justice.

There was a wonderful article in USA Today earlier this year about Justice O’Connor. She suffered from dementia, but reporter Nicole Carroll checked in on her and spent time with her son Scott and her lifelong friend Gay Firestone Wray. How’s that for a great name? I dig this quote from Gay Wray:

[She] knows nothing about the politics of the day. She would not be happy, I will tell you. Her idea was to bring people together and work together. Not this separation. She was never for that.”

Justice O’Connor loved music and was an Ella Fitzgerald fan. Ella gets the last word: