SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR

A Supreme Court that is the most diverse in history will hear two cases Monday challenging the use of affirmative action in higher education.

The Supreme Court on Monday will hear oral arguments in two cases dealing with the extent to which colleges and universities can consider race in their admissions decisions.

Supreme Court justices tend to wipe the slate clean at the start of a new term and their summer break can help bruised feelings from tough cases.

Until last week when he swore in Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, his successor on the Supreme Court, Justice Stephen Breyer had a rigorous, intellectually challenging job with the highest of stakes.

Until last week when he swore in Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, his successor on the Supreme Court, Justice Stephen Breyer had a rigorous, intellectually challenging job with the highest of stakes. As a retired justice, Breyer can maintain an office at the Supreme Court if he wants to and also gets a clerk to help him. One example: Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the court's first female justice, in retirement founded a group that teaches students civics through computer games.

When Gail Curley began her job as Marshal of the U.S. Supreme Court less than a year ago, she would have expected to work mostly behind the scenes: overseeing the court’s police force and the operations of the marble-columned building where the justices work.

The Supreme Court’s nine justices met in private for the first time since the leak of a draft opinion that would overrule Roe v.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court last week and will become its first Black female justice.

Supreme Court O'Connor Confirmation FILE - Sen. Barry Goldwaterm, R-Ariz., and Supreme Court nominee Judge Sandra Day O'Connor chat prior to the start of her confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sept. 9, 1981 on Capitol Hill in Washington. That was the tally, unimaginable in today's hyperpolarized environment, by which the Senate made Sandra Day O'Connor the first woman on the Supreme Court. Most Republicans, who largely opposed Jackson’s confirmation to a federal appeals court last year, are expected to vote against her again. President Joe Biden sought to revive his flagging campaign by promising to put a Black woman on the court. “That’s almost unthinkable today, that that would happen,” said Renee Knake Jefferson, a University of Houston law professor and the co-author of “Shortlisted,” about women who have been under consideration for Supreme Court openings.

99-0.

In the wake of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement announcement in January, President Joe Biden has nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson to be his replacement.

Supreme Court Vacancy The First FILE - Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor poses for a photo in 1982. O'Connor joined the Supreme Court in 1981 as the nation's first female justice. (AP Photo, File) (Anonymous)WASHINGTON — (AP) — Sandra Day O'Connor was nervous when she joined the Supreme Court in 1981 as the nation's first female justice. "It's all right to be the first to do something, but I didn't want to be the last woman on the Supreme Court," O'Connor said in 2012. Some Republicans, including former Vice President Mike Pence, have criticized Biden’s pledge to name a Black woman to the court.

Just being the newest member of the Supreme Court can be a momentous adjustment for a justice.

Supreme Court O'Connor Kennedy FILE - Justice Anthony Kennedy, the newest member of the Supreme Court, and Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, are shown on April 15, 1988, in Washington, at the Supreme Court during a picture taking session. For years, the Supreme Court moved to the left or right only as far as Justices O'Connor and Kennedy allowed. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty, File) (Bob Daugherty)WASHINGTON — (AP) — For years, the Supreme Court moved to the left or right only as far as Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy allowed. Now, though, a more conservative court that includes two men who once worked for Kennedy at the high court is taking direct aim at major opinions written by the two justices, now retired. Kennedy or O'Connor, or both, wrote the opinions that have been called into question on all three topics.

For years the Supreme Court moved to the left or right only as far as Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony Kennedy allowed.

Biden President Joe Biden listens as Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer announces his retirement in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Andrew Harnik)WASHINGTON — (AP) — In the nearly 30 years that Justice Stephen Breyer has spent on the Supreme Court, it has been conservative, then more conservative and now much more conservative. In recent years, as his more moderate colleagues were replaced by more conservative ones, Breyer seemed in public to maintain his good-humored nature. Replacing a conservative justice during Obama's presidency might have been expected to make the court less conservative. In September, a Gallup poll found 54% said they had "a great deal" or "fair amount" of confidence in the Supreme Court, down from 67% in 2020.

In the nearly 30 years that Justice Stephen Breyer has spent on the Supreme Court, it's been conservative, then more conservative and now much more conservative.

Supreme Court Biden FILE - Deputy assistant U.S. attorney general Lenodra Kruger, stands during her confirmation hearing to the California Supreme Court in San Francisco on Dec. 22, 2014. O'Connor was an Arizona Court of Appeals judge when nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, fulling his campaign promise to put a woman to Supreme Court. Kruger is the first California Supreme Court justice to have a baby while serving on the court. She was previously a state court judge and has served as a federal trial court judge since 2010. ___HOLLY THOMASHolly Thomas, 43, was just confirmed to the largest federal appeals court last week, the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement gives President Joe Biden a chance to make his first nomination to the high court.

Supreme Court Breyer Retire FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2017, file photo, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer listens during a forum called From the Bench to the Sketchbook at the French Cultural Center in Boston. Breyer could glide into retirement as the author of two of the Supreme Court's biggest cases this year. If nothing changes in the Senate, Breyer could retire next year as well, in the run-up to the congressional midterm elections. Those were two of Trump's three Supreme Court appointments that cemented a 6-3 conservative majority. Breyer has been in several majorities with the other liberal justices in which they joined with a bloc of conservatives.

The end of the current Supreme Court term is coming up, and Stephen Breyer is the justice to watch.

After writing two of the Supreme Court’s biggest decisions this year, Stephen Breyer could say he’s come to a fitting end of nearly 27 years as a justice and announce his retirement. Breyer has given no indication he plans to retire at the end of the court’s term, set for Thursday. Breyer and O'Connor were close on the court, employing similar approaches to their work, though she was generally more conservative.

Supreme Court FILE - In this Nov. 5, 2020, file photo the Supreme Court is seen in Washington. In that Texas case, the court reaffirmed in a 4-3 decision that colleges and universities may consider race in admissions decisions. Like the abortion case, the Harvard case lacks a split among appellate courts that often piques the high court’s interest in a case. The Supreme Court has weighed in on college admissions several times over more than 40 years. Blum has worked for years to rid college admissions of racial considerations.

Supreme Court FILE - In this Nov. 5, 2020, file photo the Supreme Court is seen in Washington. In that Texas case, the court reaffirmed in a 4-3 decision that colleges and universities may consider race in admissions decisions. Like the abortion case, the Harvard case lacks a split among appellate courts that often piques the high court’s interest in a case. The Supreme Court has weighed in on college admissions several times over more than 40 years. Blum has worked for years to rid college admissions of racial considerations.

Supreme Court FILE - In this Nov. 5, 2020, file photo the Supreme Court is seen in Washington. In that Texas case, the court reaffirmed in a 4-3 decision that colleges and universities may consider race in admissions decisions. Like the abortion case, the Harvard case lacks a split among appellate courts that often piques the high court’s interest in a case. The Supreme Court has weighed in on college admissions several times over more than 40 years. Blum has worked for years to rid college admissions of racial considerations.

FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2018, file photo, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer sits with fellow Supreme Court justices for a group portrait at the Supreme Court Building in Washington. Scott Applewhite, File)WASHINGTON – Forgive progressives who aren't looking forward to the sequel of their personal “Nightmare on First Street," a Supreme Court succession story. Other liberal voices have said Breyer should retire when the court finishes its work for the term, usually by early summer. Among the names being circulated are California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, U.S. District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and U.S. District Court Judge Michelle Childs. Breyer's departure wouldn't do anything to change the conservatives' 6-3 edge on the Supreme Court.

Sandra Day O’Connor not only had a degree from one of the most prestigious universities in the world -- Stanford University in California -- but also a law degree she earned from the same institution in just two years.

___4:20 p.m.President Donald Trump is expressing increasing confidence that a Republican-controlled Senate will approve whichever Supreme Court nominee he chooses to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. ___11:30 a.m.Joe Biden won't say if he is vetting a list of potential Supreme Court picks. ___10 a.m.Chief Justice John Roberts is remembering his colleague Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as tough and brave, a fighter and a winner. The White House says President Donald Trump will pay his respects to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Thursday at the Supreme Court. The casket of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has arrived at the Supreme Court for the start of two days of public viewing.

Ginsburg's collars were more than a subtle statement every time she entered the courtroom. Ginsburg’s casket is to be on view beginning Wednesday at the Supreme Court, outside at the top of the court’s iconic steps, and later privately at the Capitol. There were lace ones and beaded ones, white ones and multicolored ones, handmade ones and ones any member of the public could purchase. Ginsburg wore scrunchies for so long that the 1980s accessory went out of fashion and then came back in style. “I have been wearing scrunchies for years,” Ginsburg told The Wall Street Journal in 2018 for an article about the hair tie's resurgence.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court justice who served longer than any woman, championing a liberal stance on issues dividing the nation, has died, the Supreme Court said on Friday. In 2008, Justice Ginsburg appeared on the broadcast as part of a profile Lesley Stahl reported on fellow Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. She talked about the ways the Supreme Court justices worked together, in spite of their different ideologies. She also spoke fondly of her friendship with the late Scalia, whom she would sometimes call with writing advice. Ginsburg was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton in 1993.

WASHINGTON – A flurry of election-related cases are already working their way through courts, but Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer doesn't seem overly concerned about election cases landing in his lap. But when Breyer and his colleagues resume hearing arguments in October, the public won't be able to see them. Breyer said the court is concerned about security, particularly potential disruptions from the outside, including hackers. Instead of the free-for-all style of courtroom arguments, when the justices heard arguments by phone they asked questions in order of seniority, with each justice getting two minutes each. How did Breyer think it went?

A drive-by shooting wounded a federal court security officer Tuesday outside the courthouse in downtown Phoenix, authorities said. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)PHOENIX – A drive-by shooting wounded a federal security officer outside the U.S. courthouse in downtown Phoenix on Tuesday, and a person has been taken into custody, authorities said. Four armed federal officers were talking outside the main entrance to the courthouse, which was still open to the public, according to a court clerk. In June, a federal security officer was shot and killed and his partner was wounded outside the federal courthouse in Oakland as they guarded the building during protests over racial injustice and police brutality. During demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, protesters and federal officers clashed at the federal courthouse, where people set fires and tossed fireworks and rocks, while federal authorities sprayed tear gas and made arrests.