US Supreme Court Justice O'Connor retires

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman on the US Supreme Court and a moderate conservative who often controlled the outcome on abortion and other issues, announced her retirement yesterday, setting the stage for a major political battle over her successor.

"This is to inform you of my decision to retire from my position as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, effective upon the nomination and confirmation of my successor," Justice O'Connor, 75, said in a letter to President George W. Bush.

Justice O'Connor gave no reason why she was resigning from the nine-member court, whose decisions play a central role in shaping the social, cultural and political fabric of the United States. It has been closely divided on such hot-button issues as abortion, the death penalty and church-state separation.

A court spokesman said Justice O'Connor needed to spend time with her husband. He has Alzheimer's disease.

"It has been a great privilege, indeed, to have served as a member of the court for 24 terms," Justice O'Connor said in the one-paragraph letter released by the Supreme Court.

Her resignation was announced four days after the end of the court's term. There had been widespread speculation that Chief Justice William Rehnquist, 80, who has thyroid cancer, would resign at the end of the term, and even some of her colleagues did not think Justice O'Connor would be leaving.

Her resignation allows Mr Bush to make his first appointment to the high court, which must be confirmed by the US Senate. Who Mr Bush nominates to replace Justice O'Connor could trigger a fierce fight between Republicans and Democrats, and could threaten a shaky truce over judicial nominations that has kept intact the minority's ability to block a controversial candidate.