Justice O'Connor's Husband Dead at 79

[usregimechange]

John O'Connor III, the husband of retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, died today in Phoenix of complications from Alzheimer's disease, according to an announcement from the Court. He was 79.

O'Connor, an accomplished lawyer in his own right, worked with Miller & Chevalier and Bryan Cave after his wife was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1981. He was a familiar figure at the Court, and once said that his life had become "vastly broadened and vastly enriched by her appointment." Early in her tenure, to his amusement, some who were not accustomed to a woman on the Court addressed John O'Connor as Justice O'Connor.

The justice retired in 2006 in large part because of his illness, but soon thereafter his condition worsened, and he was moved to a Phoenix facility for those with the disease. Justice O'Connor, who has remained very active on issues of public education and judicial independence, has also become an advocate for more research into treatments for the disease.

http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2009/11/justice-oconnors-husband-dead-at-79.html


Please be respectful.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. What a shame.

Her husband had Alzheimers and fell in love with another patient and essentially didn't recognize Justice O'Connor.

I'm really sorry to hear of his death.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. That's the wrong response. Americans are too fucked up over a natural

process. Ignoring death does not make it away.

Instead, we should celebrate his life, we should be grateful that his passing, under such pain, mental disorder and discomfort, and under the circumstances has finally come. And we should look to Justice O'Connor as an example of how to deal with horrific diseases and loss of mental faculties in a loved one. We should be glad that SHE no longer has to suffer from such a debilitating condition in a spouse.

Sorry is absolutely the wrong word.

[liberalhistorian]

12. I understand what you're saying and agree with it for the

most part. And, yes, I'm sure there is a measure of relief on her part and that of her family. However, I know firsthand that there is also a lot of sorrow as well. Watching a beloved spouse or immediate family member slowly succumb to this is a pain beyond description for those who've never dealt with it. A lot of the sorrow is for what could have been and what the person was reduced to in the end as compared to the way they were.

[Dulcinea]

2. RIP.

Although I wish Justice O'Connor had stayed on the Supreme Court, I can understand her decision. My MIL died from complications from dementia. It's a tragedy to see someone you love deteriorate, and there's nothing you can do to stop it.

[joeybee12]

3. Alzheimer's disease is terrible, and I'm sorry for that...

...but Sandra day O'Connor had no respect for the law or the democratic process.

[usregimechange]

5. She had considerably more than Justice Alito, imo

[joeybee12]

7. Bush v Gore was the most horrendous supreme court decision ever...

...the judicial system is based upon precedent...this totall disregarded that for purely political reasons.

[Dreamer Tatum]

9. I'm sure that her lack of respect for the law figured prominently in her husband's Alzheimer's.

:eyes:

[joeybee12]

11. I said i was sorry for that...

but Bush v gore was a travesty...and she knwe it...hard to feel really sorry for someone who had utter contempt for the constitution.

[Dreamer Tatum]

14. Whatever nt

[joeybee12]

16. The Iraq War...the Afghanistan war...whatever for those also in your opinion...

tahks to Bush being appointed...all that blood spilled because of the Gang of 5.

[Dreamer Tatum]

17. No, evidently, the Gang of Five Plus O'Connor's Husband

That BASTARD. How DARE he.

:sarcasm:

[joeybee12]

18. Sorry your reading skills are so bad...

...my deepest sympathy.

[Dreamer Tatum]

20. Here's the website of another man named John O'Connor. You should really give him what for.

http://www.johnoconnorphoto.com/

He has nothing at all to do with Sandra Day O'Connor's work as a Supreme Court justice, but then again, HER John O'Connor didn't either, but you're out for his blood.

I can find a few more John O'Connors for you to malign, if you like.

[liberalhistorian]

13. That has nothing to do with anything right now.

Some things transcend politics and this is one of them.

[joeybee12]

15. The Iraq War and the Afghanistan War are still going on...if not for Bush

being appointed, thousands of lives would not have been lost...I can't brush away this travesty like you can apparently.

[Dreamer Tatum]

19. Maybe O'Connor has some graves of dead pets on her property...you can piss on those, too.

You can probably find some of her relatives in the phone book...might be worth a couple of crank calls? Just be sure to hit *67 first.

Have fun avenging every grievance you've ever had since 2000.

[JohnnyLib2]

6. RIP

And warm thoughts for her straightforward approach to the sad course of their lives in the past few years.

[elocs]

8. It is not necessarily sad, but more often a release in the case of Alzheimer's disease.

My mother has been in a nursing home for 12 years now with Alzheimer's disease. She has not known me for years now. She is in a good home, but for many they live in the big "now" which is collapsing upon itself. Many are "there" in body only. Ironically my mother has not been in a hospital overnight since she had my brother over 50 years ago. She is now 80.

So it is a sad day for Justice O'Connor, but I am sure there is also a sense of release for her.

[liberalhistorian]

10. I'm very sorry to see this, for her and

the rest of the family. I know firsthand what she and they dealt with, as my fairly young stepdad has had Lewy Body Dementia (the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer's-in fact, many LBD cases are initially diagnosed as Alzheimer's) for years and is now institutionalized. Any form of dementia is a particular kind of hell that I wouldn't wish on the worst person and the worst family. It gets to the point where it's much harder on the family than on the person him or herself.

I wish her and her family peace and comfort.

[elleng]

21. RIP, and peace to the family.