Sandra Day O'Connor is the first woman to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. She has been an associate justice since 1981.

O'Connor has held a number of public positions, including deputy county attorney in California, referee in juvenile court, and chair of the Juvenile Detention Home.

As a resident of Arizona during the 1960s and 1970s, O'Connor became the state's assistant attorney general, a state senator, the Senate majority leader, an Arizona county judge, and an appeals court judge. Her appointment as associate justice to the U.S. Supreme Court came in 1981 under President Ronald Reagan.