Biden, Chief Justice John Roberts to eulogize Sandra Day O’Connor at funeral service

Funeral services for Sandra Day O’Connor, who broke barriers as the first woman to ever serve as a Supreme Court justice, are being held Tuesday at the National Cathedral in Washington.

President Joe Biden and Chief Justice John Roberts will deliver eulogies at the invitation-only service, as will her son, Jay.

Biden called O’Connor an “American icon” in a statement earlier this month after her passing was first announced.

O’Connor, who died on Dec. 1 at the age of 93, made history when she was appointed to the nation’s highest court in 1981 by then-President Ronald Reagan. In her more than two decades on the bench, she was known for her congeniality and independence.

“She gave her life to public service, even holding elected office, and never forgot those ties to the people whom the law is meant to serve,” Biden said in the statement. “She sought to avoid ideology, and was devoted to the rule of law and to the bedrock American principle of an independent judiciary.”

O’Connor authored landmark opinions upholding abortion access, affirmative action and on protections to the First Amendment. She was also one of the five justices who decided to end Florida’s recount of the 2000 election between George W. Bush and Al Gore.

On Monday, O’Connor lay in repose in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court. All nine current Supreme Court justices were in attendance as her casket arrived and Justice Sonia Sotomayor delivered remarks in tribute of O’Connor, whom she called a “life role model.”

“For many years, the way Sandra went, the court followed and that was for a simple reason,” Sotomayor said. “She approached each case with incredible thoughtfulness and sought to arrive at a practical conclusion. She never disregarded the realities of our country … The nation was well served by the steady hand and intellect of a justice who never lost sight of how the law affected ordinary people.”