Sandra Day O’Connor remembered as ‘the glue of this court’ by Sotomayor in ceremony

The late Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was honored Monday morning at the Supreme Court during a ceremony in which she was lauded for her collegiality on the bench, role as a moderate jurist and status as the first woman to serve on the court.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor drew on past statements by various justices who often spoke glowingly about O’Connor.

“My friend Clarence once described Sandra as the ‘glue of this court.’ I agree. She brought us all together,” Sotomayor said, referring to Justice Clarence Thomas.

“For many years, the way Sandra went, the court followed and that was for a simple reason,” she added later, a nod to O’Connor’s role as a moderate swing vote on the court. “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.”

O’Connor, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, died earlier this month at the age of 93.

The ceremony, held at the court Monday morning, was attended by all nine current justices, as well as retired Justice Anthony Kennedy and members of O’Connor’s family.

The late justice is lying in repose at the Supreme Court for the remainder of Monday, and members of the public are invited to pay their respects to her there. An invitation-only funeral service will take place for O’Connor Tuesday at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC.

Sotomayor on Monday recalled a conversation she had years ago with other justices about “the bygone era of the court when justices were openly hostile to each other and rarely interacted personally.” When asked by one attendee when it all changed, Sotomayor said Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg answered that the change happened “when a woman came to the court.”

“Those at the table who had served with Sandra shook their heads vigorously in…