U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts visited Duke University last night to honor the late Sandra Day O'Connor. In a tightly controlled event, Roberts did not take questions from reporters or audience members and did not comment on any of the high court's recent controversial rulings.
O'Connor, who died at the age of 93 in December from complications related to dementia, was posthumously named recipient of the 2024 Bolch Prize for the Rule of Law, an annual award from Duke Law School's Bolch Institute. An appointee of Ronald Reagan, O'Connor was the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
She stepped down from the high court in 2006 to help her ailing husband and in the ensuing years she founded iCivics, a nonprofit dedicated to providing schools with free civics courses and games.
"Our system of laws faces enormous pressures today," said Scott O'Connor, one of the late justice's sons, who came to Duke to receive the award on his mother's behalf. "We cannot ignore attempts to undercut the work of our courts or to challenge the enforcement of rights guaranteed by our Constitution and laws."
O'Connor told the audience that any success in meeting those challenges will be due in no small part to his mother's leadership in promoting civic engagement and an independent judiciary.
Roberts and the current Supreme Court have faced criticism and public concern over judicial ethics after reports surfaced disclosing Justice Clarence Thomas's relationship with—and gifts from—Harlan Crow, a Republican real estate magnate.
O'Connor also got a big laugh from the audience when he thanked the chief justice for coming to Durham to participate in the event, saying: "The current court term has been unusually quiet and uninteresting, leaving him with plenty of leisure time for travels, right?"
In a unanimous ruling, the court recently decided individual states could not ban Donald Trump from the presidential ballot under a clause of the U.S. Constitution that bars any prior office holders from serving again if they participated in an insurrection or rebellion.
Colorado's supreme court had determined that Trump was disqualified from running for president this year because of his role in inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol.
Among the other decisions left unmentioned by Roberts, the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, a 50-year-old legal precedent guaranteeing a constitutional right to abortion.
Last year, the court's conservative majority, including Roberts, also rolled back environmental protections for wetlands and effectively ended race-conscious affirmative action in college admissions.
Roberts shared memories and photos of Justice O'Connor with the invited audience that included former and current state supreme court justices. The chief justice said O'Connor was known on the high court for hosting events and insisting her guests squeeze in tightly around dinner tables.
"She thought it was important for everyone to literally rub elbows with others and get over themselves. A few more spilled wine glasses perhaps but worth it," Roberts said.
