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As soon as she stepped onstage, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was the boss.
O’Connor, 79, was greeted with a standing ovation Thursday night by the sold-out crowd at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne’s John and Ruth Rhinehart Music Center. Wearing a shimmering black and white blouse over black pants, the white-haired icon said a quick "thank you" to the crowd, then motioned for people to stop applauding.
"You have to sit down, because this is long," O’Connor said of her speech.
The former justice, who stepped down from the bench in 2006, made her third trip to Fort Wayne as part of IPFW’s Omnibus Lecture Series, the last for the school year. She drew the largest crowd of the year, forcing the university to administer tickets to the usual come-as-you-please lecture and creating a crowded parking lot and heavy traffic around the university.
O’Connor’s speech, titled "Advancing the Rights of Humanity," detailed a number of Supreme Court cases she believes have been momentous in the country’s history. She considers the hallmark of social change in the 20th century to be the increasing extension and protection of individual rights.
O’Connor specifically noted cases like Roe v. Wade, which protects a woman’s right to an abortion, and Brown v. Board of Education, which outlawed school segregation.
She also discussed the Supreme Court’s role in trying to find a balance between protecting civil liberties and national security when it comes to trying people for war crimes. The court has to tread carefully by not stepping on the president’s power to conduct a war and Congress’ right to endorse that president, thus keeping the balance of the three branches of government, O’Connor said.
After her speech, O’Connor took questions from the crowd, taking a no-nonsense approach and letting people know up front how she planned to handle the banter.
"I may not answer them, but you’re free to ask them," O’Connor said.
She lived up to her statement, staring stoically at a man who didn’t ask a question but only gushed about her and the Supreme Court.
"Well, that doesn’t sound like a question, but thank you," said O’Connor, who quickly moved on to the next questioner.
Another man asked whether lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court should be abolished, considering Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is battling pancreatic cancer and Chief Justice William Rehnquist died in 2005 while serving.
"Well, you’d have to amend the Constitution, and that’s very hard to do, so good luck," O’Connor said.
One woman asked what it felt like to be the deciding vote on a number of cases. O’Connor brushed off the notion of being the swing vote in 5-4 decisions.
"Well, it wasn’t just me," O’Connor said. "You could look at any of the five and say, ‘You made the deciding vote.’ "
When she was asked a question she didn’t know the answer to or didn’t have background on, O’Connor didn’t answer. One woman asked whether O’Connor knew when gays would have the same protection under the law as everybody else.
"Well, I don’t know," O’Connor shot back. "Do you?"
