sandra day o'connor was the first female supreme court chief justice.
sandra day o'connor was the first female supreme court chief justice.
who is the first female supreme court chief justice?
sandra day o'connor
during the 1980 presidential campaign, reagan pledged that he would appoint the first female supreme court justice if given the opportunity. that opportunity came during his first year in office when associate justice potter stewart retired; reagan selected sandra day o'connor, who was confirmed unanimously by the senate. in his second term, reagan had three opportunities to fill a supreme court vacancy. when chief justice warren e. burger retired in september 1986, reagan nominated incumbent associate justice william rehnquist to succeed burger as chief justice (the appointment of an incumbent associate justice as chief justice is subject to a separate confirmation process). then, following rehnquist's confirmation, the president named antonin scalia to fill the consequent associate justice vacancy. reagan's final opportunity to fill a vacancy arose in mid-1987, when associate justice lewis f. powell jr. announced his intention to retire. reagan initially chose conservative jurist robert bork to succeed powell. bork's nomination was strongly opposed by civil and women's rights groups, and by senate democrats. that october, after a contentious senate debate, the nomination was rejected by a roll call vote of 42–58. soon afterward, reagan announced his intention to nominate douglas ginsburg to the court. however, before his name was submitted to the senate, ginsburg withdrew himself from consideration. anthony kennedy was subsequently nominated and confirmed as powell's successor.
ronald reagan
bullet::::- richard p. guy (1959, 1967), washington supreme court chief justice (1999-2001), associate justice (1989–1999)









































bullet::::- barbara madsen (1977), washington supreme court chief justice (2010–2016), associate justice (1992–2010, 2016–present)









































bullet::::- mike mcgrath (1975), montana supreme court chief justice (2009–present),









































bullet::::- debra l. stephens (1993), washington supreme court associate justice (2008–present)









































bullet::::- william h. williams (1951), washington supreme court chief justice (1983-1985), associate justice (1979-1983)









































from 2008–present, with madsen, fairhurst, and stephens concurrently serving on the washington supreme court, gonzaga university school of law became the law school whose alumni constituted a majority of that court's justices.
list of gonzaga university school of law alumni