Loretta Lynch was sworn in as the 83rd attorney general of the United States Wednesday in an official ceremony conducted by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. She is the first African American woman to hold the position. Confirmed in April nearly six months after her nomination on November 8, Lynch “hit the ground running from day one,” […]
Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor is the first Latina justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. She has championed for reproductive freedom (Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson dissent) and LGBTQ+ rights (Obergefell v. Hodges majority).
Contraceptive Access Further Weakened by Wheaton Decision
In the flurry of media coverage surrounding the recent Hobby Lobby decision and its curtailment of women’s rights, the dissent of Ruth Bader Ginsburg—now known throughout the Internet as Notorious R.B.G.—became ubiquitous. Full of blistering one-liners, her assertion that the Court had “ventured into a minefield” were the mots de jour, as many wondered what […]
“The Four Justices” Puts Women Trailblazers on Display
On Monday a portrait of the four women Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States of America was revealed. The life-sized likenesses of Sandra Day O’Connor, Sonia Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan are on display at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in D. C. A closeup photo of the portrait can be seen […]
The War on Women in the Courts
In 2007, five men on the Supreme Court told Lilly Ledbetter that she was out of luck. Ledbetter, after two decades working as the only female supervisor at a Goodyear tire plant in Alabama, had sued her employer for wage discrimination–she had discovered that for all those years she had been paid less than male […]
Why Do Women Judicial Candidates Get Questioned on Their Sex Lives?
Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions is not supportive of Elena Kagan’s nomination to the Supreme Court. He believes she is too liberal and that her vast academic experience is not a substitute for experience “in the harness of the law.” But at least media speculation about her sexuality has not become an issue in her confirmation […]