Justice O’Connor Has Surgery

WASHINGTON —  Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor underwent surgery today for breast cancer and is expected to make a “total recovery” and be back on the bench by the end of the month, a court spokeswoman said.

Spokeswoman Toni House said the cancer was discovered “in a very early form.” The operation was performed at Georgetown University Hospital. O’Connor, 58, was appointed to the court by President Reagan in 1981 as the first and only woman Supreme Court justice in the nation’s history. The court is in a two-week recess, due to return to the bench on Oct. 31.