Women and the United States Supreme Court By Julie Silverbrook, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, adapted by Newsela staff on 02.21.18 Word Count 1,556 Level 1020L

Image 1. The four women who have served on the Supreme Court of the United States. From left to right: Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Justice , Justice and Justice Elena Kagan in the Justices' Conference Room, prior to Justice Kagan's Investiture Ceremony on October 1, 2010. Photo: Steve Petteway/photographer for the Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States. Yet only four of the 112 Supreme Court justices ever to serve have been women, and three of those women sit on the Supreme Court today. The very first woman to serve on the Court was appointed just 37 years ago, in 1981.

However, the full story of women's involvement with the Supreme Court stretches back much further in our nation's history. Here is an overview of some of the remarkable women who have left their mark on our country's highest court, despite the many obstacles they faced.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 1 Margaret Brent: A Colonial Woman In The Courts

In the early years of our nation, women were generally barred from practicing law. However, there were some notable exceptions. One such exception was Margaret Brent, who settled in Maryland with her sisters in 1638 and became a wealthy landowner.

Because she had never married, Brent retained certain legal rights that women typically lost once they married. As a single woman and head of her household, Brent could represent herself in court.

Brent appeared before courts several times to file lawsuits against people who owed her money. While she was not a lawyer herself, Brent was one of the first women to appear in court to defend her own rights.

Lucy Terry Prince: Former Slave Argues Before A Member Of The Supreme Court

Lucy Terry was stolen from Africa as an infant and sold into slavery in Massachusetts. She later married Abijah Prince, a free black man who purchased her freedom. After their marriage, the Princes moved to Vermont, where they owned land and other property.

Lucy was well-known for her skills as a public speaker, and in 1796 she became the first black woman in America to argue before a Supreme Court justice. The case arose from a land dispute, and Lucy argued against two leading lawyers. Chief Justice Samuel Chase, who oversaw the case, said that Prince “made a better argument than he had ever heard from a lawyer in Vermont.”

Myra Bradwell Fights For Admission To The State Bar

During the 19th century, women in the United States were often denied admission to law schools and state bar associations. A bar association is a professional association of lawyers. In most states, a person must pass a test and be admitted to the state bar before they can practice law.

In 1872, the Supreme Court denied Myra Bradwell admission to the Illinois Bar, simply because she was a woman and despite the fact that she had passed the state bar exam. Bradwell then asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Illinois court's decision. She argued that the U.S. Constitution protects women from such unfair treatment.

Unfortunately for Bradwell, the Supreme Court ruled against her. It claimed that there was nothing unconstitutional about denying a woman the chance to practice as a lawyer. In any case, one of the justices remarked, women were not suited to become lawyers because they were far too timid and delicate.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 2 Belva Lockwood: Supreme Court Trailblazer

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 3 In 1876 another woman petitioned the Supreme Court. Her name was Belva Lockwood and her aim was to gain admission to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar. Lawyers cannot argue a case before the Supreme Court unless they have been admitted to the Supreme Court Bar.

Lockwood's path to becoming a lawyer was long and difficult. In 1870 she applied to the Columbian Law School in Washington, D.C., but the school turned her down, saying she would be a distraction to the male students.

Lockwood was later accepted to the new National University Law School, but the school was unwilling to give her a diploma once she completed her studies, simply because she was a woman. Without a diploma, Lockwood had no hope of being admitted to the bar.

In September 1873, Lockwood wrote a letter to President Ulysses S. Grant, who also served as president of National University. She explained that she had passed all of her courses and deserved to be awarded a diploma. A week after sending the letter, Lockwood received her diploma.

After gaining her diploma, Lockwood was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar. She then became one of the first female lawyers in the United States.

In 1876, Lockwood sought to gain admission to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar. She was turned down, on the grounds that only men were allowed to argue cases before the Supreme Court.

Lockwood was not one to give up easily, however. She quickly drafted a bill that would require women to have the same access to the Supreme Court Bar as male lawyers.

Lockwood then spent several years pushing her bill, and in the end, her efforts paid off. In 1879, Congress passed a new law that required that all qualified women lawyers be admitted to the Supreme Court Bar.

Lockwood became the first female member of the U.S. Supreme Court Bar, and the first woman to argue a case before the Court.

Sandra Day O’Connor: Our Country's First Female Supreme Court Justice

In 1981, Justice Potter Stewart retired from the Supreme Court and President Ronald Reagan selected Sandra Day O’Connor to be Potter's replacement. On September 21, 1981, the Senate voted 99 to 0 to confirm O’Connor as the first woman on the Court.

Sandra Day was born on March 26, 1930. She graduated from high school at age 16 and studied at Stanford University and then Stanford Law School, from which she graduated in 1952.

Despite being highly qualified, O’Connor was repeatedly turned down for jobs by law firms that would not hire women. After moving to Arizona, she opened her own law firm and entered Arizona politics.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 4 In 1974, O’Connor was elected to a state judgeship, and five years later she was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals. After 21 months, she was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

During her 25 years on the Court, O’Connor played a crucial role in many important legal decisions. She quickly became known as one of the most powerful women in America.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1933, she attended Cornell University and Columbia Law School.

Like O’Connor, Ginsburg soon found that law firms were unwilling to hire her, simply because she was a woman. In 1963, she began teaching law at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

By the early 1960s, Ginsburg had become deeply concerned that women were being denied opportunities that were open to men. Throughout its history, the U.S. Supreme Court had upheld several laws barring women from various occupations. The Court had reasoned that women needed to be protected from life’s hardships.

Ginsburg believed that these laws were unconstitutional and unfairly limited women’s opportunities. In her view, the Constitution does not permit such discrimination against women.

Between 1972 and 1978, Ginsburg argued six cases before the Supreme Court concerning laws that kept women out of certain occupations. She won five of them.

In the spring of 1993, Justice Byron White retired from the Supreme Court. President Bill Clinton then picked Ginsburg to be his replacement.

Ginsburg’s long-held belief that discrimination against women is banned by the Constitution was affirmed in 1996. In a case heard that year, the Supreme Court ruled that Virginia’s refusal to admit women to the Virginia Military Institute was unconstitutional.

Sonia Sotomayor

Sonia Sotomayor is the third woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. She was born in the New York City borough of the Bronx on June 25, 1954.

Sotomayor won scholarships and attended Princeton University and Yale Law School, and then worked as a lawyer for the New York State government.

In 1992, President George H. W. Bush appointed Sotomayor as a district judge for the Southern District of New York. In 1998, President Bill Clinton appointed her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She became the first Hispanic woman ever to serve on that court.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 5 In 2009, President Barack Obama picked Sotomayor as David Souter's replacement on the Supreme Court. Since joining the Court, Sotomayor has become known as the “People’s Justice,” for her efforts to talk directly with everyday Americans.

Elena Kagan

Elena Kagan was the fourth woman appointed to the Supreme Court. She was born on April 28, 1960, and grew up in New York City. Kagan attended Princeton University and then Harvard Law School, from which she graduated in 1986.

Kagan worked for two years at a Washington, D.C., law firm. She then became a law professor, first at the University of and then at Harvard.

On May 10, 2010, President Barack Obama chose Kagan to replace John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court.

More Women In The Court In The Future?

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was once asked when there will be enough women on the nine- member U.S. Supreme Court. She replied, “when there are nine.” Only time will tell if that will ever happen.

Julie Silverbrook is the executive director of The Constitutional Sources Project (ConSource.org), a nonprofit organization devoted to increasing understanding, facilitating research, and encouraging discussion of the U.S. Constitution.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 6