THE FIRST
Sandra Day O’Connor
PBS AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
Monday, September 13 at 9/8c (6pm PST)
For 191 years, the Supreme Court of the United States was populated only by men. When President Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O’Connor as the first female justice in 1981, the announcement dominated the news. Time Magazine’s cover proclaimed, “Justice at Last,” and she received unanimous Senate approval.
During her more than two decades on the Supreme Court, O’Connor was the critical swing vote on cases involving some of the 20th century’s most controversial issues, including race, gender and reproductive rights—and she cast the decisive vote in Bush v. Gore. Based on First: Sandra Day O’Connor by Evan Thomas, this biographical portrait recounts the life of a pioneering woman who both reflected and shaped an era.
Sandra Day O'Connor: The First premieres Monday, September 13 at 9/8c on PBS.
