Economic Indicators

Pictures of Sandra Day O’Connor’s Supreme Court tenure offer a visual timeline of gender inequality

In 1982, she was the lone woman.
In 1982, she was the lone woman.
By
Johnny Simon
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Retired US Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor has announced her retirement from public life after being diagnosed with dementia, the New York Times reports.

O’Connor, the first woman to sit on America’s highest court, was a justice for more than two decades. Since her appointment by Ronald Reagan in 1981, the composition of the court has shifted dramatically. For years she was the sole woman, until Ruth Bader Ginsburg joined the court in 1993. There are now three women on the court: Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

Pictures from O’Connor’s time on the bench show the slow pace of demographic change over the years:

1982

Seated, from left: Thurgood Marshall, William Brennan Jr., chief justice Warren Burger, Byron White, and Harry Blackmun. Standing, from left: John Paul Stevens, Lewis Powell, William Rehnquist, and Sandra Day O’ Connor.
Seated, from left: Thurgood Marshall, William Brennan Jr., chief justice Warren Burger, Byron White, and Harry Blackmun. Standing, from left: John Paul Stevens, Lewis Powell, William Rehnquist, and Sandra Day O’ Connor.
Image: AP Photo

1986

Seated, from left: Marshall, Brennan, chief justice Rehnquist, White, and Harry Blackmun. Standing, from left: O’Connor, Powell, Stevens, and Antonin Scalia.
Seated, from left: Marshall, Brennan, chief justice Rehnquist, White, and Harry Blackmun. Standing, from left: O’Connor, Powell, Stevens, and Antonin Scalia.
Image: AP Photo/Bob Daugherty

1988

Seated, from left: Marshall, Brennan, Rehnquist, White, and Blackmun. Standing, from left: Scalia, Stevens, O’Connor and Anthony M. Kennedy.
Seated, from left: Marshall, Brennan, Rehnquist, White, and Blackmun. Standing, from left: Scalia, Stevens, O’Connor and Anthony M. Kennedy.
Image: AP Photo/Bob Daugherty

1990

Seated, from left: Blackmun, White, Rehnquist,  Marshall and  Stevens. Standing, from left: Kennedy, O’Connor, Scalia, and David Souter.
Seated, from left: Blackmun, White, Rehnquist,  Marshall and  Stevens. Standing, from left: Kennedy, O’Connor, Scalia, and David Souter.
Image: AP Photo/Bob Daugherty

1991

Seated, from left: Stevens, White, Rehnquist, Blackmun, Sandra Day O’Connor. Standing, from left: Souter, Scalia, Kennedy, and Clarence Thomas.
Seated, from left: Stevens, White, Rehnquist, Blackmun, Sandra Day O’Connor. Standing, from left: Souter, Scalia, Kennedy, and Clarence Thomas.
Image: AP Photo

1993

Seated, from left: O’Connor, Blackmun, Rehnquist, Stevens, and Scalia. Standing, from left: Thomas, Kennedy, Souter, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Seated, from left: O’Connor, Blackmun, Rehnquist, Stevens, and Scalia. Standing, from left: Thomas, Kennedy, Souter, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Image: AP Photo/Marcy Nighswander

1994

Seated, from left: Scalia, Stevens, Rehnquist, O’Connor, and Kennedy. Standing, at rear:  Ginsburg, Souter, Thomas, and Stephen Breyer.
Seated, from left: Scalia, Stevens, Rehnquist, O’Connor, and Kennedy. Standing, at rear:  Ginsburg, Souter, Thomas, and Stephen Breyer.
Image: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

2005

Seated, from left: Scalia,  Stevens, chief justice John G. Roberts Jr., O’Connor, and Kennedy. Standing, at rear: Ginsburg, Souter, Thomas, and Breyer.
Seated, from left: Scalia,  Stevens, chief justice John G. Roberts Jr., O’Connor, and Kennedy. Standing, at rear: Ginsburg, Souter, Thomas, and Breyer.
Image: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

2006

Seated, from left: Kennedy, Stevens, Roberts, Scalia, and Souter. Standing, from left: Breyer, Thomas, Ginsburg, and Alito.
Seated, from left: Kennedy, Stevens, Roberts, Scalia, and Souter. Standing, from left: Breyer, Thomas, Ginsburg, and Alito.
Image: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite