MOMENTUM
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor Visits UCLA Law
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Professors Iman Anabtawi and Stuart Banner with Justice O’Connor
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (Ret.) visited UCLA School of Law in December. During her visit, Justice O’Connor, who is committed to promoting civics education and encouraging students to become active citizens, participated in an iCivics event with local elementary school children. She also participated in a special Q&A discussion with UCLA Law students. Four renowned UCLA Law faculty members— Professors Iman Anabtawi, Stuart Banner, Dan Bussel and Eugene Volokh, who all had the privilege of serving as clerks to Justice O’Connor—participated in the conversation. Dean Rachel F. Moran moderated the discussion, posing questions for the panel to address. After an introduction, during which Dean Moran described Justice O’Connor’s distinguished career, including sitting for more than two decades as a jurist on the Supreme Court and becoming the first woman appointed to the court, Justice O’Connor discussed a wide variety of topics. She spoke about her time on the court as well as how she began her career in the law, including the difficulties she faced as a female attorney in getting a job after law
Justice O’Connor participates in a discussion with students.
“Learn to be good writers, good thinkers, good people at figuring out solutions and helping others solve problems...” — U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE SANDRA DAY O’CONNOR (RET.)
school. “I was discovering that a Stanford Law degree didn’t mean much when I went out looking for a job. People were not inclined to hire a woman lawyer,” she said. “I finally talked my way into getting a job in the San Mateo County Attorney’s Office as a deputy county attorney, and I got that because the county attorney had once had a woman lawyer on the staff and it worked out alright...” Justice O’Connor also encouraged the students to take advantage of all their options to enrich themselves during law school, and advised them to “Learn to be good writers, good thinkers, good people at figuring out solutions and helping others solve problems...”
UCLA LAW MAGAZINE
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