The Supreme Court has a powerful role in the American government. It is meant to be one of the more stable branches of government; however, as the justices change, so does the court. One justice in particular who had a strong influence over the court’s decisions was Sandra Day O’Connor. Antonin Scalia is another justice with a strong opinion on the court, and sometimes a very conflicting opinion with O’Connor. These personal differences can be seen in both the way the Supreme Court is run as well as which direction the votes tend to lean. Sandra Day O’Connor lived a fast paced life. She did everything from working out, to raising children to politics. She is an interesting woman because she made her clerks workout with her, go on picnics and carve pumpkins. She also held very strong feminist views. These feminist views shaped her opinion on Planned Parenthood v Casey (p. 49). However, this was not her only approach. With every case O’Connor searched for the middle ground and that is what she became known for. In the Casey case she originally had the opinion to uphold the Pennsylvania law. In the end, though, she could not bring herself to such an extreme as to overrule Roe v Wade, and found a middle ground. O’Connor voted to strike down the spousal notification while keeping the “essence” of Roe (p. 62). O’Connor faced a more difficult task with the Grutter and Gratz decisions (p. 251). The middle ground for these cases was somewhat blurred, as it seemed to be more of a yes or no issue. Nevertheless, after much agonizing, O’Connor found her signature middle road by voting for Gratz and against Grutter (p. 259). It is honorable that although O’Connor was a strong conservative, she voted more modestly and searched for compromise on the Supreme Court. This is how the Supreme Court should be, as it makes