Sandra Day O'Connor Comes Out of Retirement

The white-haired woman sitting two chairs down from President Obama at the Tuscon memorial service looked familiar. She was none other than retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

She has weighed in on the call for civility in public discussion:

Every American has great sympathy for the victims and the families of victims of the tragic events that took place in Tucson this past Saturday. As we grieve, we must not allow these events to further divide our state and our nation.

We must reject violence and hostility and bring civility and rationale dialogue into our government and our community life. This is a responsibility of every one of us as individuals.

Only we, working together, can restore reason and civility in our public speech and actions.

Congresswoman Giffords is a fine example of a public official who brings these efforts and qualities to her meetings and gatherings. May her health be restored and may we all remember the role each of us plays in restoring civil talk to our public expressions.

Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.

Sandra Day O'Connor

January 12, 2011

As a Republican Reagan appointee who, during her twenty-four years as the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, put limits on but recognized a fundamental right to reproductive freedom, Justice O'Connor has come in for a lot of uncivil public discussion over the years.