Justice Sandra Day O'Connor will lie in repose at the Supreme Court

WASHINGTON − Former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a trailblazing jurist and the architect of several landmark decisions, will lie in repose at the Supreme Court this month.

O'Connor, the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court, will be honored at the court on Dec. 18, and the public can pay respects from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST, the court said. A private funeral service for O'Connor, who died last week, is set for Dec. 19 at the National Cathedral in Washington.

A key figure in landmark Supreme Court cases dealing with abortion, affirmative action and civil rights, O’Connor retired in 2006 and announced in 2018 that she had been diagnosed with dementia. She died Friday in Phoenix of complications related to advanced dementia and a respiratory illness, according to the Supreme Court. She was 93.

O'Connor was President Ronald Reagan's first nominee to the Supreme Court, She was sworn after an already notable career in 1981 that included serving as the majority leader in Arizona’s state Senate – the first woman to hold that title in the nation.