The first female Associate Justice on the Supreme Court, O’Connor retired in 2006. She won respect for her position as a centrist and was the swing vote in many cases. A principle legacy of her judicial record is her development of the “endorsement” test used in determining whether a particular government action violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment religious freedom provisions. The justice is deeply committed to the central role that religious freedom plays in our democracy, and she has attempted to clarify and simplify how this principle is applied.