O'Connor: Court Should Follow Precedent

Warren was a liberal chief justice who presided over court rulings that expanded rights for criminal defendants.

"But what we're seeing now is a more broadly based range of criticisms of the nation's courts, both state and federal," she said. O'Connor cited in part a failed South Dakota measure to jail judges for "erroneous decisions" and unsuccessful efforts by Congress to punish judges who cited foreign judgments in Supreme Court rulings.

O'Connor, 77, indicated earlier this year that she would have preferred to stay on the Supreme Court for several more years until she was ill but that she stepped down because of her ailing husband, John, who has Alzheimer's.

As a retired judge, O'Connor maintains an office at the Supreme Court, still draws a salary and fills in as a judge on the federal appeals courts. She also recently served on the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, chaired by former Secretary of State James Baker III and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., which called for a gradual troop pullout and more aggressive regional diplomacy.

After the report, President Bush announced a plan to send additional troops to Iraq over the objections of the Democratic-controlled Congress, which is now seeking to set timelines for troop withdrawals in an Iraq spending bill.

O'Connor said she wished the report had been able to bring consensus.

"It is a concern that, at the moment at least, we don't see a broad consensus on what to do," she said. "It would make it easier to get financial support out of the Congress and other supplies and action, as needed."

O'Connor spoke on "Fox News Sunday," in an interview taped late last week.