--- ---  # Sandra Day O'Connor Says Obama Should Name New Supreme Court Justice  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Feb 18, 2016 1:16 PM UTC  Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (front row, second from right) and Justice Antonin Scalia (front row, left) sat for a Supreme Court portrait session in 2005. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (front row, second from right) and Justice Antonin Scalia (front row, left) sat for a Supreme Court portrait session in 2005.Charles Ommanney—Getty Images  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Feb 18, 2016 1:16 PM UTC Retired Supreme Court Justice [Sandra Day O’Connor](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2029774%5F2029776%5F2031812,00.html) thinks waiting for the next presidential term to appoint a replacement for [Justice Antonin Scalia](http://time.com/4220762/antonin-scalia-dead-republican-party-senate-congress/) is not an option. “I don’t agree \[with waiting\],” O’Connor [told Phoenix Fox affiliate KSAZ](http://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/93261863-video) in response to how some Republicans have called to defer President Barack Obama’s intended appointment. “I think we need somebody there now to do the job and let’s get on with it.” O’Connor is the first former or current justice in weigh in on the controversy after many Republicans have said that Scalia’s replacement shouldn’t be named until after a new president is in office. President Ronald Reagan appointed O’Connor to the court in 1981, and she [was the swing vote](http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/17/politics/sandra-day-oconnor-obama-scalia-replacement/) when she retired in 2006\. O’Connor called it “unfortunate” that there is a Supreme Court vacancy in the lead-up to a presidential election, because it unnecessarily creates “too much talk around the thing.” “You just have to pick the best person you can under the circumstances,” O’Connor said. \[[_KSAZ_](http://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/93261863-video)\] Sandra Day O'Connor Says Obama Should Name New Justice ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4228800/oconnor-scalia-obama-supreme-court/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4228800/oconnor-scalia-obama-supreme-court/"},"headline":"Sandra Day O'Connor Says Obama Should Name New Supreme Court Justice","datePublished":"2016-02-18T13:16:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:11:01.123Z","description":"The retired Supreme Court Justice disagreed with waiting until a new president is elected","url":"https://time.com/4228800/oconnor-scalia-obama-supreme-court/","keywords":["Supreme Court"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0acba721de32a286/69887e1be20a87a137a8f998/sandra-day-o-connor-scalia-replacement.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0acba721de32a286/69887e1be20a87a137a8f998/sandra-day-o-connor-scalia-replacement.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"sandra-day-o-connor-scalia-replacement","caption":"sandra-day-o-connor-scalia-replacement","creditText":"Charles Ommanney—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/supreme-court/","name":"Supreme Court"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4228800/oconnor-scalia-obama-supreme-court/","name":"Sandra Day O'Connor Says Obama Should Name New Supreme Court Justice"}}]}] ```