Dec. 19 (UPI) — President Joe Biden and Chief Justice John Roberts will eulogize Sandra Day O’Connor during a Tuesday funeral service for the former Supreme Court justice.
O’Connor’s son, Jay, will also give a eulogy at the private ceremony, which was scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. EST at the Washington National Cathedral, where O’Connor once worshipped.
The funeral will be televised and streamed online.
During the service, Biden is expected to deliver remarks that echoed his praise for O’Connor — the first woman who served on the nation’s highest court — who he described as an “American icon.”
“She spent her career committed to the stable center, pragmatic and in search of common ground,” Biden said previously. “I did not agree with all of her opinions, but I admired her decency and unwavering devotion to the facts, to our country, to active citizenship and the common good.”
O’Connor, who died on Dec. 1 at age 93, was appointed to the Supreme Court in July 1981 by President Ronald Reagan, and served until 2006.
Throughout her term, she was consistently praised for her strict adherence to the law as she ruled in some of the nation’s most consequential legal cases for a quarter century, including major decisions on abortion rights, criminal procedures and affirmative action.
During O’Connor’s confirmation hearing in 1981, then-Sen. Joe Biden questioned whether she would leverage her influence as a Supreme Court justice to advocate for gender equality and women’s rights outside her judicial duties.
The line of questioning reflected the uncertainty at the time among conservatives and liberals regarding O’Connor’s potential stance on key issues, while Biden acknowledged it was impossible to predict how she would ultimately rule on any matter.
“It is your right, if it were your desire, to go out and campaign very strongly for the” Equal Rights Amendment, Biden reasoned in the hearing 42 years ago. “It is your right to go out and make speeches across the country about inequality for women, if you believed it … You have an obligation, it seems to me, to women in this country to speak out on those issues that you are allowed to under the canons of ethics.”
But O’Connor was flummoxed by the question, responding that such activism “would be inappropriate” for a Supreme Court justice.
After three days of testimony, the Senate voted 99-0 to confirm her nomination, while O’Connor remains the only Supreme Court justice in history to receive unanimous approval from the chamber.
Biden earlier this month recalled O’Connor’s confirmation as “proof that our nation can come together to move history forward.”
“Justice O’Connor never quit striving to make this nation stronger, retiring only to care for her husband, John, the love of her life,” Biden said. “She never quit calling on us all to engage with our country and with one another, and her institute’s work to promote civics education and civil discourse has touched millions. She knew that for democracy to work, we have to listen to each other, and remember how much more we all have in common as Americans than what keeps us apart.”
On Monday, O’Connor’s body lay in repose at the Supreme Court, where the public paid their respects.
The day began with a private ceremony to honor O’Connor, which was attended by Vice President Kamala Harris and all nine current Supreme Court justices.
During the service, Justice Sonia Sotomayer called O’Connor a “life role model.”
“I knew that Sandra would open up the door for women in the law and serve as an inspiration to girls across the country,” Sotomayer said.
“I knew that Sandra would open up the door for women in the law and serve as an inspiration to girls across the country,” Sotomayer said Monday.
