Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor makes a return visit to Chautauqua’s lecture platform following her season-closing lecture in 2004. Justice O’Connor became the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court when she was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, breaking the last "glass ceiling" in the legal profession and further opening doors for women in all areas of law. She is the author of two books, The Majesty of the Law: Reflections of a Supreme Court Justice, and Lazy B: Growing up on a Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest.

No stranger to Chautauqua, Justice O'Connor wrote about Chautauqua for National Geographic Traveler’s “Places of a Lifetime” issue, and described it as the "life we wish we could always live.” This lecture is being co-presented with the Chautauqua Women’s Club which counts Justice O’Connor as a lifetime member.