Griffin, Lisa Kern, Being an Icon: Reflections on Sandra Day O’Connor (May 01, 2024). 76 Stanford Law Review (2024), Duke Law School Public Law & Legal Theory Series No. 2024-44, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4874503 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4874503  – “Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s passing in December inspired an outpouring of tributes to the rancher’s daughter who blazed a trail through Stanford, legal practice, the Arizona legislature, and the state trial and appellate courts to arrive at the Supreme Court of the United States. She served as the Court’s 102nd Justice and the first woman Justice in the institution’s almost 200-year history. Justice O’Connor was both a world historical figure and a one-of-a-kind personality. She has been justly celebrated for her tremendous accomplishments as well as her extraordinary personal grace. This reflection offers some insight into what she looked like up close. It considers her professional bridge-building, her unique strength of character, her commitments as a judge, and what her passing signifies for our democracy.”

In juxtaposition to, for example: Clarence Thomas and the Billionaire – The extent and frequency of Crow’s apparent gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the U.S. Supreme Court. These trips appeared nowhere on Thomas’ financial disclosures. His failure to report the flights appears to violate a law passed after Watergate that requires justices, judges, members of Congress and federal officials to disclose most gifts, two ethics law experts said. He also should have disclosed his trips on the yacht, these experts said…”