O’Connor: Roberts ‘good in every way, except he’s not a woman’

Sandra Day O’Connor heard about President Bush’s nomination for her replacement on the Supreme Court while she was returning from a day of fly-fishing in Idaho.

Her first words were unequivocal: “That’s fabulous!” she said. She immediately described John G. Roberts as a “brilliant legal mind, a straight shooter, articulate, and he should not have trouble being confirmed by October. He’s good in every way, except he’s not a woman.”

She said she was almost sure President Bush would not appoint a woman as a replacement for William H. Rehnquist because she didn’t think he would want a woman as chief justice. “So that almost assures there won’t be a woman appointed to the court at this time.”