sandra day o'connor was so competent she was valued. it was a more open world and that is why i love it. >> host: the fact that sandra day o'connor came from a more political background than ruth bader ginsburg did that affect how they were on the court? >> guest: tremendously. the head of the aclu and a sponsor of ruth bader ginsburg told me that sandra day o'connor had a laser-like intelligence for where the american public was on any issue at any time. >> host: that is what the head of the aclu told you? >> guest: correct. the head of the aclu giving that lavish praise to sandra day o'connor. she was. if you look at her potentials with agonizing standpoint from a feminist writer she gradually moved society forward because she knew where they were. >> host: can you give an example of a case? >> guest: i would say one of the cases was the sexual harassment case. this was the first case in which the supreme court of the united states held that sexual harassment was a violation of the civil rights act and not just a little good fun at the

what is the link between ruth bader ginsburg and sandra day o'connor to the first ladies? the next question i have is all that has been going on how did both justice ginsburg and sandra day o'connor link up with the wife of [inaudible question] >> caller: i think the women are left out which is unfortunate. >> guest: ruth bader ginsburg is responsible are the supreme court publishing a book about not being in power. she was the wife of another supreme court justice and she turned out to be very influe influential getting him to say in the late 19th-century we should not, by law, separate white people from black people. holland was a real force and ruth bader ginsburg recognized it and was able to make a book about her which bought her a little respect that she deserved. ruth bader ginsburg always saw possible women of the era in every walk of life. >> host: last call >> caller: i am sorry i didn't brandise this but you are outstanding. my question is if you had opportunity to appoint a just e justice, give us a couple examples of people that you would feel would be an appro

she really missed sandra day o'connor in a thousand ways. here a cool way o'connor was of enormous value for ginsburg. she was senior by the time it was the end of her term. they speak in order of seniority at the conferences. so by 1993, when ginsburg came on, o'connor was very senior. she spoke, i think, third. once she showed support ginsburg didn't have to make the argument because o'connor made the argument. and after she left, ginsburg started to notice the difference. sotomayor and justice hagan came and ginsburg is very well pleased they are there now. i think sotomayor helped that. >> host: when i used the word buddy i was referring to antonin scalia. >> guest: oh, so sorry. everybody asks me about that. they say, and i believe it, they had a positive communion and it was in good writing and they corrected each other's draft and made them better. ginsburg said they were very close. >> host: linda hirshman, as an attorney, as a cultural historian, is lifetime appointment, in your view, best for the supreme court? >> guest: i have been

>> sandra day o'connor was a politician in the arizona state legislature and she ran for and won the seat on the state judiciary before she went to washington. so she is regarded as that natural politician on the supreme court, the most natural politician on the supreme court, up one of my sources told me after the book was written, so aggravating, that was going to be in the paper. sandra day o'connor had a laser like sensitivity for people's emotional state, it she could read people better than anyone else had ever met. i don't know, if she were asked to tell hillary clinton what to do that she could explain to clinton what it was she could do. it is like magic, it is like magic. there is a reasonable word charisma is related to the concept of magic. if i may take one second i have a wonderful anecdotes about this. john came up to interview with o'connor for the much coveted position of the supreme court clerk. from the chambers of ruth bader ginsburg, the liberal d.c. circuit judge. with ruth's recommendation. to get into a position, the republican appointee's chambers. they are c

>> sandra day o'connor was a politician. she was in the arizona state legislature and she ran for a seat on the elect did judiciary before she went washington.t, tm and she is regarded as the natural politician on the supreme court, hardly the most natural supreme court politician since william brennan. b one of my sources told me after the book was written, this is so aggravating. [laughter] that but it's to be in paperback, that sandra day o'connor had a laser light sensitivity for people's emotional states. she could read could read people better than anyone else that my source, a a very successful woman had ever met. i don't know that if she were asked to tell hillary clinton what to do that she could explain to clinton what it was that she could do, it's like magic. there's a reason that the word charisma is related to the concept of magic. if if i can take one second i have anit anecdote. joan who was with o'connor rut interviewed with her for the much coveted position of the supreme court clerk. from the chambers of r

sandra day o'connor and many others have quoted that when upholding state law. the argument would go like this, i don't know if this is good or bad, but it is not our business to say whether it is good or bad. if the state wants to do it wonderful because state can try something and if it works others can follow it and if not they don't have to. and then they usually quote this from the outlaw mise case. >> beautifully explained in shows how unifying a figure brandeis is. progressive defenders. and the question says does the frequency make concurrences and dissent more politically inspired? >> i always tell my students that only your hard cases get to the supreme court. and if you ever have read the brief that both sides turning, there are long list of precedents saying this is my view in the opposition says the supports mine. political but not in the partisan sense. and so there are people there political ramifications of opinions, especially as they affected state government. the partisan politics in the sense of governing. a lot of the decisions you either wa

i'm talking sandra day o'connor. [laughter] she said i don't think that he knew who that was. [laughter] i realized when she told me that story but in her case which was a unanimous case that you don't have to have a nervous breakdown for the claim to harassment that the author of the opinion must sandra day o'connor. and i was hooked. i knew i had to tell the stories in there that there were hundreds or maybe even thousands more. >> how long did it take the journey? >> my editor is sitting in the front row and i think she would tell you it was a lot longer than it should have been. [laughter] but it was a little bit more than the time i began the research and submitting the manuscript and then there was a what? [laughter] that's what my contract provided and i breached the contract a couple of times and maybe took a little bit longer than i should have but i started by doing a lot of traveling and interviewing folks. there were a couple that turned me down but overall, people were wonderful and welcomed me into their homes. i had a lovely fruit plate provided for me and they

i'm talking sandra fucking deo -- day o'connor. in the end of the an neck ticket, when she told me that story, realized in her case, which was a unanimous case, that established that you didn't have to have a nervous breakdown to have a claim for sexual harassment, that the author of the opinion was sandra day o'connor. and i was hooked then. i knew i had to tell the stories and made me have goose bumps. >> how long did it take? what was your journey? >> well, my editor is sitting in the front row so she would tell you the journey was longer than it should have been. but it was a little over a year between the time i began research and submitted the manuscript, and then there was a rough cut. that's what my contract provided. i breached the contract a couple times. i started by doing a lot of travel traveling and interviewing folks, people, to almost a one -- a couple folks who turned me down but overall, people were wonderful, welcomed me into their homes. i sat and had a lovely fruit plate that sheila waite prepared for me, and t

that went about the country to be spearheaded and sandra day o'connor said she was not a feminist butyet there roofies women who did nothing but try to purge these ridiculous antiquated laws. no. jury duty is not optional. it cannot stop your daughters working in a bar so it was amazing and interesting with the growth of female judges that has changed of law how 30 years ago or 40 years ago they couldn't divorce naturally favored men it was hard to get custody. and with the conscious uncoupling. and into prioritize with children to know which changes things over the years. looked at sandra day o'connor in the 1952 graduating from stanford and editor in chief 40 firms she interfered she ended up accepting the job as the city attorney. but she did it for free in order to get in the door and look what she became. after i graduated from moscow i remember it like my first week this senior male officers office do you want to go to lunch today? what would your husband say? i said he would probably want to know if i was hungry [laughter] so we went to lunch. he wasn't modified. if you look at

sandra day o'connor, who resigned from the supreme court, timing it so that george w. bush could replace her now appears to have resigners remorse because she's upset -- >> right. >> -- that some of the decisions she made, both in campaign finance and affirmative action but also on abortion are being overturned. but she should have thought of that when she let him appoint these guys. >> come back to what i said earlier, elections have consequences. >> absolutely right. and of 2016, and i say this to you know, all the people there's no difference. 2016 is going to decide whether or not the federal government does anything about climate change. >> yeah. >> it will decide whether or not we preserve financial reform which obviously i'm invested in. >> you have a certain amount of named -- you have naming rights on that. right. >> if the republicans win, they will repeal it. they all voted against it. and abortion will turn around. on the other hand, i believe if the democrats win and the president gets to appoint somebody, her appointee will be someone who will -- [laughte

government in the reelected republican democratic senate in the summer of 2005, the justice sandra day o'connor announces her retirement and george w. bush nominates john roberts to be an associate justice in a couple of months to lie and justice rehnquist dies and george w. bush decides he likes john roberts well enough to nominate him as the chief justice and then he has an associate justice job to go and nominate the white house counsel name. myers who is viewed as a doctrinaire conservative by the republicans so she has to be withdrawn because she has insufficient support and then george bush comes back and nominate samuel alito. the reason that these were so controversial in the end, roberts is not all that controversial but alito is quite controversial is because all depends on these aspects of the confirmations like who's bee ben justice, who the nominee would replace and john roberts ultimately was replacing rehnquist so it was a downed onlindown theline strict constrt conservative replacing another. in other words i was rehnquist and justice roberts was perceived as doing the same way.

of 2005, justice sandra day o'connor announces her retirement. announces to be in associate justice. william rehnquist dies and george w. bush decides he likes john roberts well enough to renominate him as the chief justice. and then he has an associate justice job to fill, he who ises harriet miers viewed with suspicion as insufficiently conservative by republicans. just be withdrawn because she has insufficient republican support. george was comes back and nominates samuel alito would the reason the desk alito. the reason -- the reason these were so controversial because it all depends on the important aspect of the dynamic of these -- who the nominee would replace. john roberts was replacing rehnquist so it was down the line, strict constructionist, conservative replacing another. justice roberts was perceived as going the same way. where is in the end, alito was a true conservative, a favorite of the movement to replace sandra day o'connor who was a swing cote -- a swing vote. justice alito was a favorite of social conservatives indeed regula

. >> the chapter begins with me watching pornography on the internet with sandra day o'connor.the first of the porn cases to go to the supreme court. and just o'connor, she leaned forward and squinted and said, oh, my, i thought i was the only one. >> sandra, by the way, don't ever tell that story again. >> cruz' daughter trolled him. >> i was back for caroline's daddy/daughter picnic at school, which featured all the dads running and playing games. >> and my favorite. >> your favorite was she got to dress up daddy in this like pink boa and these goofy underwear. >> and it was on a videotape the whole time. and that was the class video they're sending out to all the parents. >> oh, really? hm. lesson, if you're going to use your kid as a prop, make sure the prop is not smarter than you. so what takes the cake? the soup? >> when i married ted, we got back from the honeymoon and he went to the store and i was by myself, and i was completely shocked to see he brought back 100 cans of soup, i never bought 100 of anything. >> okay, weird? no. it's genius, see, cruz is basically sayi

it reminds me of justice sandra day o'connor. she does talk about how that ability to compromise is so critical to a functioning government. how else to women in governing positions make a difference? >> doesn't matter, is it just nice? there are three key reasons. there is the important symbolism of it. we tend to say, maybe that is so important to think about flipping a coin and 44 times it comes heads. rosa give this is a why hasn't this been an aspiration? there is also the symbolism and message this sends to the world. we are beset by extremism where the common denominator is misogyny and the repression and oppression of women and girls. for a woman to be at the head of one of the most powerful nations of the world i think this sends a powerful message about what america stands for. the most important reason is women do different things when they are in government and make women and girls opportunity, equality, and advance for the priority in a way that is rare for men to do. >> it was about the fact that if there was a woma

it describes -- the chapter begins with me watching pornography on the internet with sandra day o'connor, which was a bit of a bizarre experience. it was the first of the internet porn cases to go to the court and the court librarians were showing the justices what the internet was and they'd pull it up and the story i told, i was clerking for chief justice rehnquist. they paired the chief justice and justice o'connor and their law clerks were in this little room looking at this computer screen that pulls up hard-core porn. and justice o'connor leaned forward and squinted and she said, oh, my! but the marco piece of this, so the book comes out and there were some reporters thought that was a funny story. they wrote about that story. and i'm on a plane and marco texts me and says, holy cow. you watched porn? our researchers missed that. now that was funny. he's got a good sense of humor. i laughed when he sent that text. >> you told our gdana bash last week and every poll shows you beating hillary clinton. you beat her in only one and the polls taken since february 4th you win two, tie tw

including peter, author of michelle obama, then linda hirschman author of sisters and mom, about sandra day o'connor and ruth bader ginsburg. historian discusses the influence of dissenting legal opinions in his book, dissent and in the supreme court. then former white house press secretary talks about her memoir and the good news is.

and it describes -- the chapter begins with me watching pornography on the internet with sandra day o'connorwhich was a bit of a bizarre experience. it was the first of the internet porn cases to go to the court, and the court librarians were showing the justices what the internet was and they'd pull it up. and the story i told, i was clerking for chief justice rehnquist. they paired the chief justice and justice o'connor and their law clerks were in this little room looking at this computer screen that pulls up hard-core porn. and justice o'connor i still remember, she leaned forward and she squinted and said, oh, my! but the marco piece of this, the book comes out and there were some reporters thought that was a funny story. they wrote about that story. and i'm on a plane and marco texts me and says, holy cow, you watched porn? our researchers missed that. now, that was funny. listen, he's got a good sense of humor. i laughed when he sent that text. >> let me ask you about polls. you told our dana bash last week and every poll shows you beating hillary clinton. that's not exactly accurate.

justice sandra day o'connor in 1981. in fact, 75% of all supreme court

sandra day o'connor announced her retirement. george w. bush nominates john roberts. a couple of months go by. justice -- chief justice william rehnquist dies and george w. bush decides he likes john roberts well enough to renominate him as the chief justice. then he has an associate justice job to fill. he nominates his white house counsel, harriet miers, who is insufficient by the conservatives. she has to be withdrawn because she has been -- insufficient republican support. then george bush nominated send alito -- samuel alito. the reason in the end roberts is alito controversial and is quite controversial is because of the dynamics of these confirmation fights. who the new nominee replaces ideologically. roberts was replacing rehnquist so it was a relatively down the line, strict constructionist conservative replacing another. that was rehnquist. roberts was perceived as going the same way. in the end; alito was a -- ofuel alito was a favorite the conservatives to replace a swing vote. he was a favorite of social conservatives and economic onservatives in deregula

let me quote justice sandra day o'connor who was appointed by president ronald reagan in 1981. the first female justice of the supreme court. when asked about the vacancy on the court created by the death of justice scalia, justice o'connor said, "we need somebody there now to do the job and let's get on with it." end quote. i agree with justice o'connor. let's do our job and fill the senate tion constitutional responsibilities and vote up or down on judge garland's nomination. with that, mr. president, i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. cardin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: i would ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: i would ask that the senate stand in recess until 2:15 p.m. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the senate stands in recess until 2:15 p.m. schedule and online@c-span.org. >> campaign 2016 continues with the wisconsin primary. and yo

justice sandra day o'connor in 1981. in fact, 75% of all supreme court justices have been confirmed within 31 days. but today, 40 days after the nomination, many senators haven't even extended judge garland the simple courtesy of a meeting, and we don't see -- seem closer to holding a hearing. the majority's refusal to hold a vote is without precedent. and the majority has cited none. instead, the majority is trying to shift the blame. incredibly the chairman of the judiciary committee recently came to the floor to blame, of all people, not other senators, not other politicians, but the chief justice of the united states of america for politicizing the court. ten days before justice scalia's death, the chief justice said -- quote -- "the process is not functioning very well. that turns out to be something of an understatement, mr. president. the chief justice went on and said the process is being used for something other than ensuring the qualifications of the nominees. again, he wasn't referring to what's going on now i

days or less. this dates all the way back to justice sandra owe connor. that's -- sandra o'connor. that's 100 days. how many days are there between now and when the next president takes office? do the math. there's 268 days. for anyone who comes to this floor and says, there just isn't time, that individual is just making a case with no foundation, because the record shows that from the time the nomination is made to a vote, time and time again -- under democrats, under republicans -- it's less than 100 days. and yet we have more than 260 days left before the next president takes office. now, there are other folks who have come to the floor of this chamber and they have invented this new principle. it's called the job strike during the last year that a president is in office. that there is something in the constitution which gives this senate permission not to do its job during the last year a president is in office. well, i encourage my friends to pull out their constitution, read the constitution, find that clause and bring it to the floor, because it does not exist. the constitut

i wouldn't even mention it except ruth ginsberg and sandra day o'connor saw us there. happened. but lynn's secret service code name is now dollar bill. >> i love the band, so i'm going to say my farewell to you by doing something i've always wanted to do. ♪ >> this is good, good stuff, listening to presidents going back as far as ronald reagan. the first president to attend the white house correspondents' dinner is calvin coolidge. we did not find the footage. we looked for hours and hours. we saw reagan, we saw george w. bush, we saw bill clinton there. liz, it's really interesting to see these guys let their proverbial hair down. >> i think rich little hosted that one as well. a lot of people don't know that. fun fact. >> you know it really is -- as much as i disagreed with george bush, that moment when george bush and george bush's id were on stage, it was one of the most funny things ever. i laughed really hard at that moment. >> i got to say, it wasn't a joke to see the president conducting the band, but there is something sort of fun about that as well. >> it hum

more recently, retired justice sandra day o'connor put it quite sum plirks as she always does. "i think we need somebody there now to do the job and let's get on with it." indeed, the supreme court has granted only three cases -- hearings -- since justice scalia died. a number, experts say, is extraordinarily low and an indication that eight sitting justices are acutely aware of the precarious position the court is in with a vacancy. many senators apparently believe that president obama shouldn't be able to are make an appointment under article 2 because he is in the last year of his term. now, let the record show thi ths nothing in the constitution that says the president is only president for three of the four years of his or her term. i don't understand that reasoning. under that reasoning, any of those same senators who've made that argument shouldn't be voting on any bill that comes before this body in the last term of their senate term. if we continue with that rationale -- whether it is with the president's office, the senate's office -- we lead to further dysfunction an