BBC NEWS | Americas | US Supreme Court justice resigns

BBC NEWS | Americas | US Supreme Court justice resigns: "BBC NEWS
US Supreme Court justice resigns
Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to serve on the US Supreme Court and a crucial centrist, is to retire.

Ms O'Connor, 75, has often cast the deciding vote on the nine-member court, leading some US commentators to call her the most powerful woman in America.

She is the first Supreme Court justice to retire since 1994, giving George W Bush his first chance to name a judge."