Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said President Obama should nominate someone to fill the court’s vacancy in a Wednesday interview with Phoenix television station KSAZ.
“I don’t agree,” O’Connor said of Republicans who believe the next administration should be responsible for a nomination. “I think we need somebody there now to do the job and get on with it.”
O’Connor, who was the first woman appointed to the nation’s highest bench, agreed it’s odd to have a vacancy in an election year. But, this is the President’s role, she said.
“You just have to pick the best person you can under these circumstances, as the appointing authority must do. And it’s an important position and one we care about as a nation, as a people,” O’Connor said. “And I wish the President well as he makes choices and goes down that line. It’s hard.”
O’Connor was appointed by then President Ronald Reagan in 1981. She retired in 2006 after 25 years of service and was replaced by Justice Samuel Alito.
Watch the interview from KSAZ:
