Georgetown Law Remembers Sandra Day O’Connor

Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court, died December 1, 2023 at the age of 93. During her time on the Court, and especially afterward, she formed deep relationships with the Georgetown Law community.

“As the first woman to be named to the Court, Justice O’Connor was an historic trailblazer, and as a lawyer, politician and justice, she embodied the highest ideals of the legal profession,” said Dean William M. Treanor. “When she received an honorary degree from Georgetown Law, she spoke of how a good lawyer had to have not only skill in the law, but a moral and social conscience. In her decisions, her writings and in the way she lived her entire life, we see that commitment. She was also a great friend to Georgetown Law, and my colleagues and our students benefited greatly from her presence and insight in the years following her retirement.”

In addition to speaking at the 1986 commencement ceremony at which she received that honorary doctorate, she was the keynote speaker at the dedication ceremony for the Law Center’s Eric E. Hotung International Law Building in 2004. In her remarks, she reflected on the growing importance of international engagement in the post-9/11 world.

“The efforts that Georgetown University Law Center makes to educate law students from this country and abroad about international law are efforts well spent… Because of the scope of the problems we face, understanding international law is no longer just a legal specialty,” O’Connor said. She concluded her remarks by pointing out the building’s proximity to Capitol Hill and to the federal courthouses. “I look forward to many contacts with you in these areas in the years ahead. You will be a very good neighbor indeed,” she said.

O’Connor did indeed stay in close contact with the Law Center. After retiring from the Court in 2006, she partnered with Georgetown Law on “The Sandra Day O’Connor Project on the State of the Judiciary,” which between 2006 and 2009 organized a series of conferences dedicated to discussing various issues affecting judicial independence in the United States – a key concern of hers since her time as a judge in her home state, Arizona. The project also undertook additional initiatives, including events in partnership with other organizations, including the Aspen Ideas Festival and the Rehnquist Center at the University of Arizona School of Law.