sandra day o'connor has one of the best statement. in every society, there have to be a safe place. in a democracy, that is a place that is the courts. we have to have the average citizen talking about how they want to preserve that save space in our society and talk to their legislatures, because there is a view among legislators, not all of them, but many, that the courts are another agency. it is not another agency. it is a co-equal branch of government but is necessary to protect our fundamental liberty, and to be such a branch, it needs adequate funding. when they say we have an economic crisis, we do have an economic crisis. there is no question about that. don't put the courts as another library for another road. it is not. it is the basis why we today enjoy our freedom. we have got to make that clearly understood. every time you talked legislator, every time you have an opportunity to talk to a civic group, you need to make that distinction. >> thank you. the next question from the audience, if you could choose only one reform of the american justice system, what would it be

attorney general in the bush administration he even clerked for former supreme court justice sandra day o'connor so we have the it in running the internal probe at news corp and prepare a running the u.s. attorney's investigation but as the atlantic report today seems like a vietnam priests are actually good friends now you might be asking how their friends like i don't know maybe they had a beer or two in the past nothing major. actually a v. it was betts best man at a wedding and i'm not making that what i. so the two are actual best friends and one is investigating the other's company for possible criminal activity the same body else think there might be a little bit of a conflict of interest here but the story gets even better if it did know who works for rupert is actually the godfather or one of rupert sons so wow what a tangled web these guys are trying to weave now it's time magazine article about the connection so that it's unclear yet have ever discussed any intention of recusing themselves from either side of this investigation and they would speak time magazine about the case but you

even the arizona supreme court to find the extraordinary figure who was and turned out to be sandra day o'connor. but it is interesting reagan didn't say find me someone to overturn roe vs. wade. because that was not their focus at that time. and that was not who sandra day o'connor was. that was not the kind of justice she turned out to be. 1986 rehnquist was promoted to chief justice. anthony scalia to that seat. no question, conservative justice then and now. a key turning point in the history of the point, 1987, because that was the year lewis powell resigned. at that point, since the nixon years, there was, in a term that the justices really don't like very much, a swing justice. a justice in the middle between the liberals and the srvetiffs, and it was very much louis powell. so his departure was a key. it was something very important for the court. what did ronald reagan do? nominated ronald borge to that court. in the mid term electrics the senate changed hands and the democrats were in charge once again. and instead of strom thurman, it was a senator from delaware named joseph biden. an

rise into positions of influence, and you're no longer the first, you know, i think it was sandra day o'connor said it's not good to be the first, you don't want to be the last. and i think that for a lot of women who have risen up and they are the first, you feel i think this is norms pressure that you've got to do a better job than anyone could possibly do because you are not just representing yourself, but somehow you're representing all women kind or something. i don't know. i spend a lot of time really trying to mentor young women, and men actually. i believe that it's a special obligation for all of us who have been able to achieve a certain amount of enforcement, been given opportunity to remember what it was like when you're graduating from college and you don't have your life figured out and you feel like you should add because everyone else seems to have their life figured out. coming of us in this room did have your life figured out when you graduate from college? none of us. well, i think maybe you did. you are always the overachiever. [laughter] by do think that for so many people

more women rise to positions of influence and you are no longer the first period to i think sandra day o'connor said it is not good to be first. before a lot of women that have risen up and are the first, they feel an enormous pressure to do a better job than anybody could possibly do, because you are not just representing yourself, but all of one kind or something. i spent a lot of time trying to mentor young women and men. i believe it is a special of vacation for all of us to achieve a certain amount of good fortune and give the opportunity to remember what it was like to graduate from college and you do not have your life figured out and you feel like you should have, because everyone else has their life figured out. you are always the overachiever, judy. some many people, whatever words of advice i can share, is to not be afraid. men do have this issue -- moving out of your comfort zone, trying something different. sometimes opportunities come to you that may seem sell off the path that you thought you were on. to have the opportunity to take the lead, try something that seems risky or not

more women rise into positions of influence, and you are no longer the first -- i think it was sandra day o'connoris not who can be the first, you don't want to be the last. i think that for a lot of women who have risen up and they are the first to feel i think this enormous pressure that you have got to do a better job than anyone could possibly do because you are not just representing yourself but somehow you are representing all womankind or something, i don't know. but i do think -- i spend a lot of time really trying to mentor young women and men actually. i believe that it is a special obligation for all of us who have been able to achieve a certain amount and have been given opportunities to remember what it was like when you are graduating from college and you don't have your life figured out and he feel like you should have because everyone else seems to have their life figured out. how many of them this -- of us in this room actually did have your life figured out after college graduation? none of us. maybe you did, judy. you are you are always the overachiever. but i do think that for

intermediate appeals court in arizona to find the extraordinary figure who was an turn out be sandra day o'connor. it is worth noting that reagan did not say finding someone who will overturn roe vs. wade, find the social security of -- finding a social conservative . that was not do justice o'connor one, and that was not the kind of justice she turned out to be. 1986, warren berger resigned, ronald reagan nominated william rehnquist, and named antonin scalia to his seat. 1983, a key turning point in the history of the court, because that was the year that lewis powell resigned, and at that point basically since the nixon years, there was in a term that the justices really do not like her much, a swing justice. a justice who was in the middle between the liberals and conservatives, and it was very much the was powell at the perth. -- at that point. his departure was keep for the court. ronald reagan nominated robert bork to that seat. something very important had happened between the confirmation of scalia and rehnquist in 1986 and the nomination of bork in 1987. in the midterm elections of 1986,

we had three, you know, three republican appointees -- sandra day o'connor, david hackett souder, justice kennedy who all voted to uphold the heart of roe v. wade though not the reice holding. as and ally ya said, i don't know how that's fouling precedent. -- following precedent. in any event, we need to get five at large supreme court justices. this is one of my plans, just for a laugh to start engaging in if conservative activism and to hallucinate the sort of rights equivalent to the rights being hallucinated by the liberal justices so that we'll suddenly have a right to a flat tax, we'll have a right to own a rocket-propelled grenade, we'll have a right to free champagne for blonds. um, all kinds of fantastic rights i can think of. oh, i think we'll declare the withholding tax unconstitutional. and then our justices can all admit it was just a joke because liberals can never understand how heinous their policies are until it's done to them. and the alternative plan to, i can state much more quickly, we need a conservative, a republican executive to say in response to an insane supreme

i think it was sandra day o'connor that said it was not good to be the first. you also do not want to be the last. for those women who have risen up, who are the first, you feel this enormous pressure that you have got to do a better job than anyone could possibly do because you are not only representing yourself, but you are somehow representing women of all kinds. i spend time trying to mentor young women and men. i believe it is a special obligation, for all of us who have been fortunate to have been given opportunities, to remember what it is like when you are a graduate from college and you do not have relied figure out, and you should because everyone else has had their life figured out. how many of us have their life figure that when they left college? maybe you did, judy. you are always the overachiever. but i do think that for so many people, -- whatever words of advice i could share is to not be afraid. i think men have this issue. maybe they do not verbalize it. moving out of your comfort zone and trying something different. particularly, if you feel

we know less about her ideology that any nominee to the supreme court since sandra day o'connor in 11. every appointee had been a federal court of appeals judge for some time ana judge for a long time. kagan had never been a judge on any court before going to the supreme court. that is not disqualifying. many judges brothroughout history had ever been a judge on any court -- brandeis, warren, rehnquist -- but the fact that she had never been a judge means that we don't have access to her prior opinions in judicial philosophy great shot dead five major law review articles, and none of them -- she authored five major law review articles, and none of them said anything but to delet -- none of them said anything particularly controversial. as a result, i don't think we can know where she will be on the ideological continuum. to answer you >> you can watch all this program on line at c-span.org. aware, anprobably earthquake has hit the east coast. with 5.8 magnitude according to the associated press northwest of richmond straight game -- shaking much of d.c. all up the eastern coast. the u

. >> when sandra day o'connor was appointed it was revolutionary to have a woman. i wonder if you could speak to how that has changed the corporate >> i will tell you what saturday o'connor says. she has been in the court in a few occasions this year there to argue before the court, she came in on a couple of the arizona cases. there were three important cases involving arizona. she came in one or two of those to see how her state was bearing. she has talked about this. she said -- sat there as a spectator. the way the bench works is justice sotomayor's it's on the far left of the bench and i sit on the far right and justice ginsberg sits near the middle. justice o'connor said i was hearing women's voices coming from all over. [laughter] [applause] and the that was a remarkable thing to her. i am sure did she remembers those days when she was the one and only. and it is kind of great that that has happened. i think -- i am glad to be part of it. >> i think that is a great way to end. we would like to thank you very much. we welcome you [laughter] back to -- we welc

even the arizona supreme court to find the extraordinary figure who was and turned out to be sandra day o'connor. it was worth noting that reagan didn't say find me someone who will over turn roe v. wade, find me a social conservative, he didn't. because that was the priority, or the republican priority. that was not what justice o'connor was and not was not the kind of justice she turned out to be. 1986, warren berger resigned, ronald reagan dominated william rehnquist from associate to chief, and named anthony scalia. conservative justice then and now. 1987, a key turning point. that was the year that lewis powell resigned. basically since the nixon years, there was a term in the justices don't like very much, there was a swing justice. justice in the middle between the liberals and conservatives. it was very much lewis powell at that point. his departure was a key -- it was something very important for the court. what did ronald reagan do? nominated robert borg to that seat. and something very important had happened between the confirmation of scalia and rehnquist in '86 and the nomination of

united states court of appeals said that the circuit from 1985 to 1986 and the honorable's sandra day o'connorof the united states supreme court in 1987. in addition to experiencing the united states apartment justice as officer of solicitor general and the office of legal counsel he served in the white house as associate counsel to the president from 1989 to 1982. he has written more than two dozen articles about the second amendment and firearms. is written widely on a variety of subjects including competition in her petition federalism separation of power speech and debate clause and civil rights. he is also written extensively on the legal regulation of medical ethics and the application of economic analysis and legal institution and to legal ethics. professor lund. >> thank you very much. i am a lawyer and i'm going to talk a little bit about the law but i'm going to do my best to speak mack english so i hope you'll bear with me. after the heller decision of 2008 there was a lot of celebrating by gun rights advocates and rightly so. this was the first major