--- title: Sandra Day O'Connor Says Obama Should Name New Justice description: The retired Supreme Court Justice disagreed with waiting until a new president is elected canonical: https://time.com/4228800/oconnor-scalia-obama-supreme-court/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-18T13:16:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:41:12.719Z article:section: Politics og:title: Sandra Day O'Connor Says Obama Should Name New Justice og:description: The retired Supreme Court Justice we should not wait to name Scalia's replacement og:url: https://time.com/4228800/oconnor-scalia-obama-supreme-court/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: 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=16:9 og:image:width: 4368 og:image:height: 2457 og:image:alt: sandra-day-o-connor-scalia-replacement og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sandra Day O'Connor Says Obama Should Name New Justice twitter:description: The retired Supreme Court Justice we should not wait to name Scalia's replacement twitter:image: 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=16:9 ---  # Sandra Day O'Connor Says Obama Should Name New Supreme Court Justice > Sponsored content. 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There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=db0b5236-2d20-4669-bd39-3f2e605a1a52&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME Raw: Obama Says He Will Pick A 'Qualified' Supreme Court Nominee [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Raw: Obama Says He Will Pick A 'Qualified' Supreme Court Nominee](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/veyEEaTj.m3u8) (1:15)  _Published 2016-02-16_  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Feb 18, 2016 1:16 PM UTC  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. \[[_KSAZ_](http://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/93261863-video)\] ## Transcript The Constitution is pretty clear about what is supposed to happen now. When there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court the President of the United States is to nominate someone. The Senate is to consider that nomination. And either they disapprove of that nominee or that nominee is elevated to the Supreme Court. Historically, this has not been viewed as a question. We're gonna find somebody who is an outstanding legal mind. Somebody who cares deeply about our democracy and cares about rule of law. There's not gonna be any particular position on a particular issue that determines whether or not I nominate them, but I'm going to present somebody who, indisputably, is qualified for the seat. And any fair minded person, even somebody who disagreed with my politics would say would serve with honor and integrity on the court. ```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":"2026-10-05T08:41:12.719Z","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"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Raw: Obama Says He Will Pick A 'Qualified' Supreme Court Nominee","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/veyEEaTj/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-02-16T23:49:58.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/veyEEaTj.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4228800/oconnor-scalia-obama-supreme-court/","duration":"PT1M15S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4228800/oconnor-scalia-obama-supreme-court/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```