Sandra Day O'Connor [automatically transcribed, may contain inaccuracies]
Attorney General Reno, President Cooper, and distinguished guests and members of the American Bar Association. My feelings at this moment are of gratitude for this signal honor you've bestowed on me. And of amazement over the unlikelihood of at all, that a cowgirl from Arizona would have found her way not only through law school, but through 45 years of experience in the legal profession all the way to our nation's highest court and to This wonderful honor tonight in the city of San Francisco. It was here in this city in 1952, that I was sworn in to the State Bar of California. And that lovely courthouse now restored for the Court of Appeals. It was just south of here in Redwood City that I persuaded the county attorney to give me my first job as a lawyer. Follow the road to this podium has in fact been a long one. It seems very short to me. It feels like only a few years ago, that law school opened my eyes to the world of the rule of law, to the intrigue of legal analysis, and the satisfaction of solving people's disputes through negotiation. And when all else fails, litigation, the American Bar Association was in existence long before I entered the legal profession. It's been working throughout my years as a lawyer to study and analyze different subject areas of the law and to propose and help achieve improvements. It has been a strong supporter of a qualified, competent and independent judiciary. It has worked hard to support adequate compensation for judges and for improvements and judicial selection. It is even focused attention on ways in which world peace can be achieved through the rule of law. Throughout the Cold War, the ABA supported rule of law development around the world with the breakup of the Soviet Union eight years ago, the ABA with the help of the section on international law for the Central and Eastern European law initiative, about which Lee Cooper spoke to offer American legal expertise to help them nation states form constitutions, laws and institutions to function in democratically elected governments and in free market societies. And I've participated in this effort. And I've seen with my own eyes the incredible effort made by more than 4000 volunteers, lawyers who are members of this association, and others, judges and academics, all serving without compensation to try to meet the needs of a great diversity of new nations. It's been an inspiring and a very constructive effort. One that should make every ABA member enormously proud. I for one am grateful to the ABA, for the privilege of serving in that CEELI effort. It has been so constructive and helpful. One thing is clear to me After seeing the struggles of people in other parts of the world, in Central and Eastern Europe, in Asia, and Africa, and in Latin America, to establish governments that will function effectively, and will protect and guarantee basic human rights and liberties. What is clear is that our own structure of certain constitutionally guaranteed individual rights and freedoms enforceable by an independent judiciary have enabled us to survive and prosper as a nation of immigrants. With our ethnically and culturally diverse population. The assurance of the equal protection clause and the due process clause, enforceable by individuals against deprivation by government has been in my view, the key to our ability to sustain Stay in our nation. The American Bar Association has been a strong supporter and advocate of these principles. I'm truly honored to receive this award from an association so committed to preserving these principles in a world which is undergoing such fundamental change. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.