Retired Supreme Court justice O'Connor hears appeals cases in Boston
By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff
She blazed a trail for all women in the legal profession, but retired Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor sat in the background today as a visiting judge in the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston.
 (Globe file photo) |
O'Connor offered only brief interrogatories and mostly took notes at the John Joseph Moakley Courthouse while two other panel judges dissected a series of cases. The presence of the retired justice seemed to give at least one attorney the jitters as he uttered "uh'' and "um" and fuddled through portions of his presentation. But the other dozen or so attorneys who argued in front of the three-judge panel were poised and appeared prepared.
"In the First District court, it is crucial to be precise no matter who the judges are,” said attorney Marc DeSisto, arguing a zoning matter before the panel. “I'm here about three or four times a year, and every judge that I've appeared in front of has been excellent.''
The 78-year-old former justice has served as a visiting judge on federal appeals courts elsewhere, including those based in New York and St. Louis. She was invited by Judge Bruce M. Selya, one of six judges on the court, to hear arguments in about a dozen cases, in part because the court has a heavy caseload. She will continue to hear cases again on Tuesday.
O'Connor was appointed to the highest court of the land by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and served until 2006.
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