Supreme Court Justice O'Connor Resigns

By William Branigin, Fred Barbash and Daniela Deane

Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, July 1, 2005; 4:27 PM

Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court and a decisive swing vote for a quarter-century on major legal issues, announced her resignation today effective upon the confirmation of her successor.

In a brief letter to President Bush, O'Connor, 75, gave no reason for her decision to leave the court after 24 years as an associate justice, a tenure in which she played a crucial role in decisions on such major issues as abortion and the death penalty. But a Supreme Court spokeswoman later said O'Connor was retiring in part because she "needs to spend time now with her husband," who is reportedly in poor health.