Telling the Story of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor

This Article critiques Evan Thomas’s biography First: Sandra Day O’Connor by examining both intimacy and gender. Focusing on the role of gender, which this piece opines to be thin and unsatisfying. By rejecting the label “feminist,” Thomas ignores “feminist practical reasoning” as an explanation of Justice O’Connor’s approach to deciding cases. In addition, Thomas’s lack of focus on Justice O’Connor’s concurring opinion in J.E.B. v. Alabama, and specifically her ideas as they relate to cultural feminism.

In conclusion, one must consider stories, including Thomas’s work, in the whole context, including the role of the storytellers themselves.