ramble through the bronx

Friday, July 01, 2005

The swing vote steps down

Sandra Day O'Connor has retired. Here's the Wikipedia article on O'Connor, and an excerpt:

The first woman appointed to Supreme Court, O’Connor has become one the most-watched justices on the Court. She is part of the federalism movement and approaches each case as narrowly as possible, avoiding generalizations which might later “paint her into a corner” for future cases. Although she formed part of the conservative axis during the later years of the Burger Court, with the departure of the last members of the liberal Warren Court, she is now regarded as occupying the ideological center. It is both O’Connor’s dedication to asserting her judicial power over that of other federal institutions and her pragmatic circumspection that has given her a deciding centrist vote for many of the Rehnquist Court’s cases.

I found out because Planned Parenthood immediately sent me an email -- on their website, they refer to the vacancy left by her retirement as ominous. Within days, Bush will appoint a successor to O'Connor -- and as PP points out,

Only five years ago, Justice O'Connor was critical to maintaining access to abortion in the 5-4 decision issued in Stenberg v. Carhart. When the court hears Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood later this year, the outcome with a new Justice could drastically affect women's health and safety.

(Here are some pieces on ayotte vs. pp -- it focuses on parental notification laws, but was ruled unconstitutional by the appeals court because it had no health exemption - i.e., health of the mother not a concern; it also forces parental notification; an alternative adult, supposing the parents to be abusive or estranged or whatever, is not acceptable).

More on O'Connor from Dkosopedia. She's also been a swing vote on separation of church & state.

jane 12:00 PM [+]