Justice O'Connor's Legacy on the Court One of Moderation, Independence, Says UB Law Professor

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- University at Buffalo School of Law Professor Lee A. Albert is available as an expert source to media covering today's surprise retirement announcement by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

According to Albert, a veteran court observer and former Supreme Court clerk, "O'Connor brought a sense of moderation to an institution that has a tendency to take extreme positions."

"She was ballast," Albert says. "When others wanted to overrule Roe v. Wade, for example, she was one of the strong holders of the middle. In her case being a swing vote was a compliment, it was flattering,"

Albert says O'Connor's service on the court established what many already knew, "that a woman could do the job as well as any man."

"She made it so that a woman justice is a normal thing," he adds. "That, in a relatively short period of time, is a real achievement. She deserves a lot of credit for that."

O'Connor's retirement and the anticipated retirement of U.S. Chief Justice William Rehnquist greatly raises the stakes for the next justice appointment, Albert notes.

"Rehnquist was thought to be a fairly predictable conservative voice, whereas O'Connor was a key vote in so many 5-4 decisions," Albert says. "This increases the intensity of concern over her replacement."

Albert is a former assistant U.S. attorney and law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron White. He received his law degree magna cum laude from Yale Law School and was editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, the largest and most comprehensive campus in the State University of New York. The UB Law School is the only law school in the SUNY system.