O'Connor joined the 5-4 majority in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 492 U.S. 490 (1989), upholding a Missouri law placing restricts on abortion.http://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/04/us/supreme-court-supreme-court-5-4-narrowing-roe-v-wade-upholds-sharp-state-limits.html?pagewanted=all http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/clinic/wars/cases.html
- This decision upheld as constitutional state restrictions on second trimester abortions that are not necessary to protect maternal health, contrary to the original trimester requirements in Roe v. Wade. Although O'Connor joined the majority, which also included Rehnquist, Scalia, Kennedy and Byron White, in a concurring opinion she refused to explicitly overturn Roe.
O'Connor and Justice Stevens wrote the opinion in McConnell v. FEC, 540 U.S. 93 (2003), which upheld the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance bill regulating "soft money" contributions, accepting Congress' finding that such soft money contributions led to corruption.[1][2]
- Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 (2003) and Gratz v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 244 (2003)
- O'Connor wrote the opinion of the court in Grutter and joined the majority in Gratz. In this pair of cases, the University of Michigan's undergraduate admissions program was held to have engaged in unconstitutional reverse discrimination, but the more-limited type of affirmative action in the University of Michigan Law School's admissions program was held to have been constitutional.
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, 536 U.S. 639 (2002)
- O'Connor joined the majority holding that the use of school vouchers for religious schools did not violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause.
Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000)
- O'Connor joined with four other justices on December 12, 2000, to rule on the Bush v. Gore case that ceased challenges to the results of the 2000 presidential election (ruling to stop the ongoing Florida election recount and to allow no further recounts). This case effectively ended Gore's hopes to become president. Some legal scholars have argued that she should have recused herself from this case, citing several reports that she became upset when the media initially announced that Gore had won Florida, with her husband explaining that they would have to wait another four years before retiring to Arizona.[3]
O'Connor played an important role in other notable cases, such as:
Other sources
NY Times Scotus rules on Missouri abortion law: http://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/04/us/supreme-court-supreme-court-5-4-narrowing-roe-v-wade-upholds-sharp-state-limits.html?pagewanted=all
SCOTUS ends O'Connor's workout class: https://apnews.com/3ffaf0f649a54b0c8875cb1fd7c7d59a/supreme-court-brings-gavel-down-oconnor-workout-class
O'Conor named to Court: http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1981/07/08/page/64/article/sandra-oconnor-praised-as-politician-judge
O'Connor confirmation hearing: http://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/10/us/o-connor-hearings-open-on-a-note-of-friendship.html
- ^ Zuckerman, Michael; Gergen, David (September 20, 2012). "Case by Case: Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's Biggest Decisions". Parade. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
- ^ "Timeline: Sandra Day O'Connor's Key Decisions". The Washington Post. July 1, 2005. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
- ^ Neumann, Richard K., Jr. (2003). "Conflicts of interest in Bush v. Gore: Did some justices vote illegally?". Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics: 34.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)[dead link] The article cites multiple, uncontested sources on this and related incidents, and argues they were grounds for recusal on three separate bases: personal bias regarding a party to litigation, appearance of partiality, and material interest.