Katie Couric Instagram – Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court and who passed away on December 1st at the age of 93, is lying in repose in the court’s Great Hall on Monday. The key figure in landmark cases regarding abortion, affirmative action, and civil rights succumbed to complications of dementia in early December, a diagnosis she announced in 2018. O’Connor’s casket was carried up the steps in front of the court, which was lined by her former clerks, and passed under the iconic words engraved on the pediment, “Equal Justice Under Law,” before being placed in the court’s Great Hall. A private ceremony was held before the hall opened to the public, allowing people to pay their respects afterward, from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. All nine members of the current court and retired Justice Anthony Kennedy attended the private remembrance. “The heavens shed a tear this morning,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor said in remarks at the ceremony, calling O’Connor her “life role model.” ❤️ Funeral services for O’Connor are set for Tuesday at Washington National Cathedral, where President Biden and Chief Justice John Roberts are scheduled to speak. In honor of the Arizona native’s trailblazing legacy, we’re looking back at my chat with O’Connor from 2002, when she reflected on what it felt like the day she found out she was going to become a Supreme Court justice and the mixed emotions regarding her place in history. ⚖️ Credit: @nbc #sandradayoconnor #supremecourt #scotus #news