Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a Reagan nominee, has said that she disagrees with the Republican stance that a new justice should not be appointed until the next presidential administration.
"I think we need somebody there now to do the job, and let's get on with it," O'Connor told a Phoenix Fox affiliate.
"You just have to pick the best person you can, under the circumstances, as the appointing authority must do. And it's an important position and one that we should care about as a nation and as a people. I wish the president well as he makes choices and goes down that line—it's hard," she said.
When the interviewer mentioned that it's unusual to have a Supreme Court opening in an election year, O'Connor agreed and added that "it's unfortunate; that creates too much talk around the thing that isn't necessary." (O'Connor is photographed here at an event at Wiley Rein.)
A Baltimore Sun op-ed has suggested bringing O'Connor back to the Supreme Court for "a year or two" as an interim measure. O'Connor—who was nominated in '81 and retired in '06 to care for her husband—said that wasn't logical and wouldn't comment on it. [Fox]
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