Sandra Day O'Connor offers career's insights on the law, court

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THE MAJESTY OF THE LAW: REFLECTIONS OF A SUPREME COURT JUSTICE

By Sandra Day O'Connor

Edited by Craig Joyce

Random House, $25.95, 330 pages, illus.

REVIEWED BY BRUCE FEIN

To mimic Malvolio's reading in "Twelfth Night," some women are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em. Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the Supreme Court's maiden female appointee in 1981, fits the third obelisk of luster, as do the overwhelming majority of males who have vaulted to the High Court. Her reflections on the law and women in society are corroborative. No pithy or penetrating wisdom of an Oliver Wendell Holmes, Louis Brandeis, or Benjamin Cardozo leap forth that will guide constitutional thinking for the ages.

The author's pedestrian chronicling of her appointment and service, our constitutional history and landmarks, women and the law, the legal profession and the courts, and the rule of law is unrewarding. Emblematic is the following: "Today American women are confronted by 'the juggle.' While many women are able to balance a profession and home admirably, it is nonetheless true that time spent at home is time that cannot be billed to clients or spent making contacts at social or professional organizations."