Women Criminal Defense Attorneys: “When There Are Nine”
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was joined by several women last week and spoke openly about women judges and lawyers, and the effect of having more women on the Supreme Court. She said that the increase of women on the bench across the country, and the addition of Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, have made her "tremendously optimistic" about the future. "We are no longer one-at-a-time curiosities," she said, adding that having multiple women on the Supreme Court was "exhilarating" and offered "the right picture for the children who troop in and out." She was asked when the court would have enough women on it, and she answered, “When there are nine.” She has made similar comments about envisioning a nine woman high court and has explained, “[f]or most of the country’s existence, there were nine of the same sex and they were all men, and nobody thought that that was out of order.”
Other women on the panel acknowledged that barriers to women becoming judges are relaxing, but that the glass ceiling is still very much alive and well in law firms, where female attorneys are rarely seen arguing large civil cases. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler noted that “You don’t see women in court in the big money-making cases.” Justice Ginsburg shared accounts of meeting people with her husband where she would be introduced as Judge Ginsburg and the person would reach out to shake her husband’s hand.
Justice Ginsburg continues to say it like it is. She is honest and forthright about women in law and in the judiciary, and she is not afraid to openly discuss her own struggles along the way. This kind of open and frank discussion is critical to move things forward. What is changing from my perspective, and what will force change, is that women are joining a necessary conversation about what has and is still holding us back. This is in stark contrast to previous generations, where many women lawyers felt that they had no choice but to stand back in silence for fear of being ostracized because of the conversation. Bravo to Justice Ginsburg, who is not wasting her opportunity in the spotlight to advance the conversation.