It might be one of the least likely descriptions you’d ever expect to hear, but when she came to Downtown Los Angeles this week, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor described herself an “old cowgirl who’s gotten involved in video games.”
It was one of many lines from the 83-year-old retired jurist that drew applause and laughter. O’Connor spoke to an audience of approximately 300 people at a Monday, March 3, luncheon at the Jonathan Club hosted by the lecture series Town Hall-Los Angeles.
O’Connor retired from the Supreme Court in 2006, after 25 years on the panel. The first woman to be appointed to the nation’s highest court, O’Connor offered the swing vote for many key cases, including upholding the Roe v. Wade decision on abortion rights in 1992. A moderate conservative, she also was the deciding vote in the 2000 ruling that gave George W. Bush the presidency over Al Gore.
In Downtown, the octogenarian trumpeted the importance of life-long learning and shared her two main passions since retiring: advocating for judicial independence and promoting civic education. The latter has consumed much of her time, as she founded iCivics.org, a website designed to teach people about the democratic process through interactive games and other online tools.
The impetus for the nonprofit and its accompanying website grew out of the country’s dire need for a reinvigoration of civics teaching, she said. O’Connor believes fervently that “an informed and engaged citizenry is the lifeblood of our democracy and our country.” So with fewer than one-third of eight graders able to identify the historical purpose of the Declaration of Independence, she said the schools are failing to teach young people the essential skills of citizenship.
“This absence of civic knowledge leads directly to civil disengagement,” she remarked. “If they don’t know how it works, how are they going to get involved?”
Given that the world is very different from when O’Connor used the sun or a compass to find her way around her family’s Arizona cattle ranch as a child (read: kids use GPS on their phones), O’Connor figured if young people are spending 40 hours a week in front of some type of screen, why not squeeze in some government lessons. One of the games on the website, “Do I Have a Right?” allows players to run a law firm and determine the constitutionality of various situations. The more the lawyers win, the larger the firm grows.
The website received 6.5 million hits during the last school year. Additionally, many of the units of study are aligned with state-mandated learning standards. Still, O’Connor noted that its users are not limited to children.
“Age is no limit to your ability to have an impact. I urge you to continue to better your communities,” she said.
Following that advice, an audience member asked a 21st century question: Is there an app for that?
The octogenarian paused. She said she hadn’t considered an application for a mobile device, but that it is something she will look into. Expect her to weigh the pros and cons before deciding.
Twitter: @donnadowntown
© Los Angeles Downtown News 2013