Court TV Host: Court TV's Fred Graham is here to discuss the surprise resignation of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Welcome, Fred. Thanks for being our guest today.

Fred Graham: My pleasure. This is going to be interesting, because President Bush will have a chance to move the Court decisively to the right. So there's going to be a huge fight with the Democrats over her successor.

Court TV Host: I just called the resignation a "surprise" -- was this truly a surprise?

Fred Graham: It was. Sandra O'Connor is 75, but that's not old for a Justice. Her husband John has Alzheimer's and that may have prompted this.

Question from googler: What do you think O'Connor's major legacy will be?

Fred Graham: That she was the first woman Supreme Court Justice. The question is, will the President feel obliged to appoint a woman in her place? There is another woman now on the court-Justice Ginsburg.

Question from magnolia: Everyone was expecting this announcement from Rehnquist, do you think we'll be hearing his resignation before the next judicial session begins?

Question from Terry: Hi Fred, do you think Rehnquist will resign as well, making two vacancies?

Fred Graham: I would expect Rehnquist to resign for reasons of health. He has cancer and seems very frail. But he is a strong-minded man, and he may not want to give up his position of power and prestige.

Question from tribe: Do you expect the nominee to replace O'Connor to repeat her testimony during her confirmation hearing...and refuse to answer anything to do with abortion issue?

Fred Graham: Some abortion-rights groups are saying they will urge a Democratic filibuster against any nominee that does not pledge to retain roe .v Wade, the abortion-rights case. Fat chance for any nominee to give that pledge, but they'll be under great pressure to do so.

Question from princes: Do you think she herself needed to resign for some health reasons?

Fred Graham: Justice O'Connor had cancer several years ago but seemed to have beaten it. I suspect after 24 years on the bench and an ailing husband, she just wanted to go home to Arizona.

Court TV Host: Do you think that she discussed her plan to resign with Rehnquist and the other Justices, to coordinate resignations in any way?

Fred Graham: Justices usually don't do that, but in this case she might have talked with Rehnquist, who was in law school with her and even dated her once.

Question from tribe: Who do you see (names!) Bush nominating...besides Gonzales?

Fred Graham: The "short list" that's been floated recently by the White House is all white men. They must have assumed the vacancy would be Rehnquist's. Now that a woman has quit, they may want to add some women to that short list, which may not be so short.

Question from greenacres: Will the confirmation battle truly be a battle for the center of the court?

Fred Graham: Present Bush will nominate a conservative, who would replace an increasingly-liberal "swing Justice." So the issue will be whether Bush can get his conservative, who would move the Court to the right.

Court TV Host: Fred, do you know Justice O'Connor?

Fred Graham: I met her soon after her nomination, and found her intelligent, down-to-earth, and sexy. She had been a cowgirl in her youth, growing up on a ranch. She had been discriminated against as a woman lawyer. She presented a very attractive success story.

Court TV Host: I know you have to runAny closing thoughts?

Fred Graham: Sandra Day O'Connor was an enigma to many legal scholars, because she resisted taking a clear stand on controversial issues. But the result was that she made pragmatic, non-ideological decisions on sensitive issues. History will tell us whether that was the right way to go.

Court TV Host: Thanks, Fred, for being our guest today. We hope you'll come back often over the summer for discussion of what is sure to be a contentious battle over O'Connor's successor on the Court.