Sandra Day O 'Connor says she is suffering from dementia and is withdrawing from public life: NPR

The former Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O. Connor, stated that she had been diagnosed with "debilitating dementia, possibly Alzheimer's", in an open letter published Tuesday.

O & # 39; Connor, 88, is the first female judge to sit on the High Court. She remained active after being removed to take care of her husband, John, in 2006. But now, O Connor says she will retire from public life. .

She was diagnosed "some time ago," Oor Connor said in a letter issued by the Supreme Court's public information bureau.

"As this condition has progressed, I am no longer able to participate in public life," said O & # 39; Connor. "Since many people have asked questions about my current status and activities, I want to be open about these changes and, as much as I can, share some personal thoughts."

In his letter, O & # 39; Connor then describes the importance of encouraging the growth of civic engagement of Americans, a key goal of iCivics, the organization that 39 she created after retiring from the seat of the federal government.

In response to O & # 39; Connor 's letter, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote: "I was saddened to learn that Judge Sandra Day O. Connor, at the same time. like many Americans, faces the challenge of dementia. "

He added: "But I was not at all surprised that she took the opportunity to share this fact in order to think first of our country and to encourage increased commitment to civic education. cause to which she has devoted so much time and indomitable energy. "

Calling O & # 39; Connor "a dominant figure in US history," said Roberts, "she broke the barriers preventing women in the legal profession from perfecting themselves and improving the country in general".

The old justice, said Roberts, has been "a role model to follow not only for girls and women, but for all those who are committed to the equality of justice before the law". "No disease or condition can take away the inspiration it gives to those who will follow the many paths it has traced."

O. Connor was a judge at the Arizona Court of Appeals when she was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, to fill the vacancy left by the Judge Potter Stewart, retired.

Describing what it was like to be the first woman in the Supreme Court, O & Connor told Terry Gross, of NPR in 2013, that she felt "a special responsibility" to occur at a level that would leave the door open to more women.

Towards the end of his letter announcing his condition, O & # 39; Connor stated:

"I will continue to live in Phoenix, Arizona, surrounded by my dear friends and family.Although the last chapter of my life with dementia can be challenging, nothing has diminished my gratitude and my deep gratitude for the innumerable blessings of my life, how fortunate I feel to be an American and have benefited from the remarkable opportunities offered to the citizens of our country As a young cowgirl from the Arizona desert, I would never have imagined that someday I would be the first female judge of the US Supreme Court. "