'Audience of one.' A look at some of Sandra Day O'Connor's biggest Supreme Court decisions

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

52% : New York v. United StatesA former state lawmaker and state judge, O'Connor was an ardent believer in the principle of federalism - keeping the roles of federal and state governments separate.
50% : Planned Parenthood v. CaseyThe landmark abortion case affirmed the central holding of Roe v. Wade, that the Constitution protected a right to an abortion.
49% : In recent years, including in two cases earlier this year, a more conservative Supreme Court has been redrawing the line separating church and state in a way that is more favorable to religious interests.
47% : McCreary County v. ACLU of KentuckyO'Connor provided the key vote in a 5-4 decision that displaying the Ten Commandments at two Kentucky courthouses violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which sets down the principle of separation between church and state.
46% : In an often-quoted concurring opinion, O'Connor wrote that, "Those who would renegotiate the boundaries between church and state must therefore answer a difficult question: Why would we trade a system that has served us so well for one that has served others so poorly?"
43% : But, the court ruled, Congress overstepped its power with a provision of the law in which states were required to take ownership of and responsibility for radioactive waste that it couldn't dispose of through other means.
41% : The laws requirements, she wrote, would would "'commandeer' state governments into the service of federal regulatory purposes, and would for this reason be inconsistent with the Constitution's division of authority between federal and state governments.

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