But I am not among your favorite legal commentators, and, as you've probably guessed from the title, I am not here to lionize Justice O'Connor. Instead I'll argue that O'Connor represents everything wrong with America's legal institutions. This is so even if we give her the benefit of every doubt; e.g., that her appointment wasn't a cynical ploy by Reagan's GOP, and that she was a trailblazer for women lawyers everywhere, and that she saved Roe v. Wade (for a while), and that her opinion in Bush v. Gore was the result of careful deliberation rather than a naked abuse of power.
I understand that I am going to catch hell for this piece. I am a privileged, middle-aged white guy conducting a post-mortem critique of the first woman justice to serve on the Supreme Court, a jurist and scholar who was a damn sight smarter and more successful than I'll ever be. But before roasting me on your e-spits, I'll ask you to keep two things in mind: 1) my evidence consists of her own opinions, quoted below, so you don't have to take my word for it, and 2) I have spent my career representing people who are decidedly underprivileged; the ones who have to live with the consequences of opinions rendered by people who wear robes. So maybe the reader will grant me a little credibility here (and if not, see #1).
