The Supreme Court is the highest judicial body in the United States. Since its creation in 1789, 112 justices have served on the Court. Of these 112 justices, four of them are women. President Ronald Reagan appointed the first female justice, Sandra Day O’Connor, in 1981; she served for 25 years. Sandra Day O’Connor changed the face of women in politics. Men dominated the Supreme Court yet Sandra Day O’Connor made strides in feminist politics and women's rights by breaking the glass ceiling in the legal profession. She offered an unbiased point of view on many topics including abortion rights, the death penalty, and affirmative action. O’Connor was born on March 26th, 1930 in Texas. She graduated Stanford University in 1950, where she studied …show more content…
They suffered as a result of inferior titles, wages and respect. This “glass ceiling” made it extremely hard for woman to break into higher offices in government organizations, yet O’Conner remained persistent. She finally found a position as a deputy county attorney and began to thrive in the legal field; even landing a seat on the Arizona State Senate where she became the first woman to serve as the state’s Majority Leader. In 1979, she worked on Arizona’s Court of Appeals until she was ultimately appointed to the Supreme Court in …show more content…
O’Connor’s view on abortion rights varied with circumstances, but were generally favorable towards the female public’s desires. She was seen as the Supreme Court’s swing vote on all abortion issues. O’Connor’s proactive view on woman’s rights helped forge the way for woman in the workplace. She inspired many woman to pursue their dream of working in the legal and political field, showing them it was possible for women to hold a high position in government. Her status even inspired women to attend college and push for careers not necessarily related to politics. O’Connor not only focused on feminist issues, she was also quite critical of the death penalty. O’Connor questioned the validity of the death penalty through her concern for the possibility of innocent people being subject to execution at the hands of a mistrial. O’Connor stated, “people represented by court-appointed lawyers were 28 percent more likely to be convicted than those who hired their own lawyers. If convicted, they were 44 percent more likely to be sentenced to death”(NYT, Death Penalty). The increasing accessibility of DNA testing was helping to absolve innocent death-row inmates, confirming the death penalty practice was
Cowan, Ruth. “Women’s Rights Through Litigation: An Examination of the American Civil Liberties Union Women’s Rights Project, 1971–1976.” 8 Columbia Human Rights Law Review 373, 390–393 (1976).
On November 1912, women won the right to vote in Arizona. This period of time marked a lot of changes for women and politics in Arizona. Women had to struggle against a male dominated society that influenced their vote despite their new freedom to vote as they saw fit. The right to vote eventually led to a proliferation of women running for local, state, and national offices. Those running for office faced skepticism about their capabilities as a politician, concern over whether they had the drive, intelligence, and strength to face down opponents within the political arena. Despite these obstacles, women have proven to be successful politicians and have infiltrated the ranks of male dominated government systems, both within states and nationwide. Today, women are virtually equal to men as far as their capabilities are concerned, yet are still under-represented in the national political scene. By reviewing a brief history of a few women in politics in Arizona and examining current political themes, a platform is formed that allows an understanding and recognition of the struggles and progression of women in politics today.
To become the first to hold a position is a tremendous accomplishment; However, it is also something that may come with extra criticism and possibly scorn. Sandra Day O’Connor was the first woman to become a Supreme Court Justice. She was a remarkable person, born on March 26, 1930 in Texas. She began her education by attending Stanford and majoring in economics, then recognizing her interest in law, she returned to Stanford, and completed law school in two years as opposed to the standard three, finally graduating in 1952. After struggling to find work, O’Connor served as a civilian lawyer in the Quartermaster’s Corps in Germany, with her husband John Jay O’Connor. For six years following this, she worked as a stay at home mom raising her three sons, Scott, Brian and Jay. In 1969 she went back to work in politics, after being appointed to a vacant senate seat by Governor Jack Williams; Sandra was very successful, and was re-elected for this position twice. The year 1981, however, is when O’Connor earned what is likely to be considered her greatest achievement: she was appointed by Ronald Reagan to become the first ever woman Supreme Court Justice (biography.com 2012).
Currently there are women directing seven major institutions in the federal and local government: the drug enforcement administration, secret service of D.C Metropolitan P.D, U.S Park Service, FBI’s Washington field office, U.S Marshals service and Amtrak P.D, and the Far-Flung agency (Johnson). Ground breaking events have happened in 2015 within the Secret Service and the Washington FBI’s field office two women, Julia Pierson and Valerie Parlave were appointed, making them the first women to direct these two institutions. Three other women heading agencies in Washington are Michele Leonhart, at the Drug Enforcement Agency; Stacia Hylton, the U.S Marshals Service; and Teresa Chambers, U.S. Park Police (Johnson). The hiring of these women are monumental, these women can stand as proof that sex has nothing to do with your ability to be in law
Ruth Ginsburg was born March 15, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York. Ginsburg’s grew up in a low-income home. She was taught the importance of education and independence. Some of Ruth’s earliest memories are of going to the public library with her mother, trips that imbued her with a desire to read and a love of learning. Although her mother did not go to college she still did everything could to influence Ruth in the right direction. Her mother, Cecelia, instead of going to college worked in a garment factory to help for the education of her sons. Growing up Ruth admired the selflessness of her mother.
During the late nineteenth-century, women went to court to continue to secure their rights to participate in public life: to vote, to be a justice of the peace, to be a notary public, to serve as school district directors, school committee officers, school officers, and prosecuting attorneys, an of course to practice law (Drachman, 1998).
Bertha Wilson, most commonly known as the first woman to be a judge at the Supreme Court of Canada and she is remembered as a great leader and changed the lives of many people. Bertha Wilson showed many good character traits that all contributed to her in becoming a successful leader. Bertha Wilson was very intelligent. The first woman to judge at the Supreme Court of Canada showed integrity towards the fact that woman and men should be treated equally. Bertha Wilson was courageous and brave. A good and successful leader must always be intelligent, show integrity and be determined.
Even to this day, women have not reached maximum equality, but the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade has helped the women’s equality movement drastically take a step in the right direction. Prior to the case, women had their rights very limited and restricted. Everyone was and still is entitled to their basic rights, however pregnant women were not. Their first, fourth, fifth, ninth, and fourteenth amendment rights were violated and were not addressed until Jane Roe testified in court. The decision made by the court still has a lasting impact even to this day. The landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade was not just a win for Jane Roe, but a win for all women as it helped break the barrier that surrounded women’s equality.
Women’s equality has made huge advancements in the United States in the past decade. One of the most influential persons to the movement has been a woman named Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ruth faced gender discrimination many times throughout her career and worked hard to ensure that discrimination based on a person’s gender would be eliminated for future generations. Ginsburg not only worked to fight for women’s equality but fought for the rights of men, as well, in order to show that equality was a human right’s issue and not just a problem that women faced. Though she faced hardships and discrimination, Ruth never stopped working and thanks to her equality is a much closer reality than it was fifty years ago. When Ruth first started her journey in law, women were practically unheard of as lawyers; now three women sit on the bench of the highest court in the nation.
St. Olaf College's theme for Women's History Month is "Women in Politics." The featured guest speaker was Sarah Weddington, the attorney who, in 1973, argued the winning side of Roe vs. Wade before the United States Supreme Court. This decision significantly influenced women's reproductive rights by overturning the Texas interpretation of abortion law and making abortion legal in the United States.
The entire Women’s Movement in the United States has been quite extensive. It can be traced back to 1848, when the first women’s rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York. After two days of discussions, 100 men and women signed the Declaration of Sentiments. Drafted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, this document called for equal treatment of women and men under the law and voting rights for women. This gathering set the agenda for the rest of the Women’s Movement long ago (Imbornoni). Over the next 100 years, many women played a part in supporting equal treatment for women, most notably leading to the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which allowed women the right to vote.
...ces Munds, Isabella Greenway and other on up to the state’s current leadership. While still disproportionately represented, women nationwide and especially in Arizona have made tremendous strides in the acquisition of political power. Further in this website, you can look at exactly how the current leadership rose through the ranks.
Janice Yoder. (2013). Women and Gender Making a Difference (4th ed.). Sloan Publishing.In the Supreme Court of the United States:
...set examples for future generations and have shed light on the feminist movement in the U.S.
The roles of women changed drastically between 1950’s and 1970’s due to the political, economic, and social issues, but women’s lives also stayed close to the way they had always been. The lives of women changed in a plethora of ways throughout the years. “We believe that women can achieve such equality only by accepting to full the challenges and responsibilities they share with all other people in our society, as part of the decision-making mainstream of American political, economic, and social life” (Statement of Purpose, 1966).