Women & Law Journal
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Women & Law JOINT PUBLICATION FEBRUARY 2020 Editors-in-Chief FARRAH BARA, Duke L.J. SARAH MCDONALD, Mich. L. Rev. LAUREN BECK, Harv. L. Rev. GRACE PARAS, Geo. L.J. MAIA COLE, N.Y.U. L. Rev. ANNIE PROSSNITZ, Nw. U. L. Rev. NICOLE COLLINS, Stan. L. Rev. GABRIELLA A. RAVIDA, U. Pa. L. Rev. NOOR-UL-AIN HASAN, Calif. L. Rev. ALVEENA SHAH, UCLA L. Rev. LAUREN KLOSS, Cornell L. Rev. LAURA TOULME, Va. L. Rev. ELA A. LESHEM, Yale L.J. EMILY VERNON, U. Chi. L. Rev. MARY MARSHALL, Colum. L. Rev. CHRISTINA WU, Texas L. Rev. Contributing Editors AMANDA ADIAN, N.Y.U. L. Rev. KELLEN MCCOY, U. Pa. L. Rev. ANNA APPLEBAUM, N.Y.U. L. Rev. GILLIAN MCGANN, Mich. L. Rev. ANDREW BORRASSO, Nw. U. L. Rev. KATHERINE MCMAHON, Geo. L.J. ALEXANDRA D. BUTLER, Va. L. Rev. NICHOLAS MECSAS-FAXON, Geo. L.J. CELIA CALANO, Geo. L.J. NICHOLAS MENDEZ, N.Y.U. L. Rev. CATIE CARBERRY, Duke L.J. BRIANNA A. MESSINA, U. Pa. L. Rev. NICOLE B. CARROLL, Geo. L.J. EMILY MILLS, Geo. L.J. AMY T. CHAU, Geo. L.J. MONICA M. MURPHY, U. Pa. L. Rev. CHRIS CONRAD, Geo. L.J. BRITTANY NEIHARDT, Geo. L.J. ALEXANDRA COPPER, Calif. L. Rev. CHELSYE NELSON, N.Y.U. L. Rev. TODD COSTA, Colum. L. Rev. ERIN O’NEILL, Geo. L.J. JORDAN P. DANNENBERG, Yale L.J. JORDAN POOLE, U. Chi. L. Rev. TONI DEANE, Geo. L.J. HANNAH PUGH, U. Pa. L. Rev. LORI DING, Stan. L. Rev. REBECCA RASKIND, Geo. L.J. SARAH DU, Mich. L. Rev. JUSTIN RATTEY, Geo. L.J. SASHA DUDDING, Yale L.J. DANIEL RAY, Calif. L. Rev. MARY JANE DUMANKAYA, U. Pa. L. Rev. KAITLIN RAY, Duke L.J. DOMINIC EDWARDS, Geo. L.J. CHELSEA RINNIG, Mich. L. Rev. ALDEN A. FLETCHER, Geo. L.J. CARLY REED, Geo. L.J. REEM GERAIS, Duke L.J. JONATHAN RIEDEL, N.Y.U. L. Rev. SAMANTHA GLAZER, Geo. L.J. EMMA ROBERTS, Duke L.J. ANDREW GOVE, U. Chi. L. Rev. ERICA ROSENBAUM, N.Y.U. L. Rev. GRACE GREENE, U. Pa. L. Rev. ARI B. RUBIN, Geo. L.J. NATHALIE GREENFIELD, Cornell L. Rev. KATE SCANDURA, Geo. L.J. REBECCA GUTTERMAN, N.Y.U. L. Rev. ASHLEY SEE, N.Y.U. L. Rev. MCKENZIE HIGHTOWER, Geo. L.J. LAUREN H. SIMENAUER, Geo. L.J. JULIA F. HOLLREISER, Cornell L. Rev. ADRIANNE SPOTO, N.Y.U. L. Rev. JESSICA L. JOYCE, Va. L. Rev. AMANDA SWANSON, Va. L. Rev. PETER A. KALLIS, Yale L.J. CAROLINE TAN, N.Y.U. L. Rev. MARYAM KANNA, Duke L.J. JESSICA L. TENG, U. Pa. L. Rev. HANAA OLIVIA KHAN, Va. L. Rev. GUS TUPPER, Calif. L. Rev. DAVID KIM, Mich. L. Rev. PAUL VON AUTENRIED, Calif. L. Rev. ALICIA LAI, U. Pa. L. Rev. ERRY ALSH NATHAN LANGE, Stan. L. Rev. K W , Geo. L.J. JESSICA LI, N.Y.U. L. Rev. ANTHONY W. WASSEF, Cornell L. Rev. ICOLE ITTSTEIN NINA LOSHKAJIAN, N.Y.U. L. Rev. N W , Duke L.J. JULIA MAY, Geo. L.J. Faculty Advisors KATHARINE T. BARTLETT, Duke Law School MARIN K. LEVY, Duke Law School KATHRYN WEBB BRADLEY, Duke Law School NEIL S. SIEGEL, Duke Law School Event Coordinators ISABEL FOX, Duke Law School RACHEL GREESON, Duke Law School Women & Law JOINT PUBLICATION FEBRUARY 2020 Essays Family, Gender, and Leadership in the Legal Profession........................................ Kerry Abrams 1 Motherhood as Misogyny........................................... Jane H. Aiken 19 On Power & Indian Country................................. Maggie Blackhawk 39 Reflections of a Lady Lawyer.............................................. Lisa Blatt 57 The Nerve: Women of Color in the Legal Academy........................................ Khiara M. Bridges 65 Inching Toward Equal Dignity......................... Denise Brogan-Kator 71 On Firsts, Feminism, and the Future of the Legal Profession.............................. Risa L. Goluboff 81 Carrying on Korematsu: Reflections on My Father’s Legacy................................. Karen Korematsu 95 Reconstituting the Future: An Equality Amendment.............. Catharine A. MacKinnon 109 Kimberlé W. Crenshaw Law School in a Different Voice............................... Melissa Murray 131 Experience on the Bench.................................. Rebecca R. Pallmeyer 143 Kafka’s Court: Seeking Law and Justice at Guantanamo Bay........................................ Alka Pradhan 151 A Personal Essay.................................... Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro 159 The Nineteenth Amendment: The Catalyst that Opened Courthouse Doors for Women on the Federal Bench............................ Ann Claire Williams 169 Foreword In January 2019, I received the highest honor of my law school career—I was elected Editor-in-Chief of the Duke Law Journal. My predecessor quickly announced my election to a group of EICs from other schools. Additional election results soon followed: Noor Hasan, California Law Review; Nicole Collins, Stanford Law Review; Ela Leshem, Yale Law Journal. As is customary, our congratulations went to the outgoing EICs and (jokingly) our condolences to the incoming ones. Results continued to pour in: Maia Cole, New York University Law Review; Christina Wu, Texas Law Review; Lauren Kloss, Cornell Law Review. I watched closely: Lauren Beck, Harvard Law Review; Annie Prossnitz, Northwestern University Law Review; Gabriella Ravida, Pennsylvania Law Review; Laura Toulme, Virginia Law Review; Emily Vernon, University of Chicago Law Review. Cautious excitement. Mary Marshall, Columbia Law Review; Alveena Shah, UCLA Law Review; Sarah McDonald, Michigan Law Review. Holding my breath. Grace Paras, Georgetown Law Journal. The Editors-in-Chief at the flagship law reviews of the top sixteen law schools in the country were all—for the first time ever—women. What follows is a commemoration of this anomaly. Celebrating in concert with the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, the sixteen of us joined forces to publish a series of essays by prominent women in the legal community. Our hope was that these women would share the lessons they learned in pursuit of their prominence and that along the way, we would learn a little more about who we are—and who we hope to become. This publication and the accompanying event could not have been possible without the support and mentorship of the Duke Law faculty—particularly Dean Kerry Abrams, Dean Katharine T. Bartlett, and Professors Kathryn Webb Bradley, Marin K. Levy, and Neil S. Siegel—and the hard work of my dear friend and Duke Law Journal Executive Editor, Nicole Wittstein. “Thank you” cannot even begin to express the gratitude they deserve. The inescapable reality of our legal system is that it was built by men occupying the highest echelons of this profession. That fact dominates our legal education and continues to shape our view of women leaders. Candidly, our achievement was surprising because it is unexpected to see women in such high positions at such high numbers. I treasure what we have accomplished, recognize that our work is incomplete, and hope that in a hundred years, the women and men of the legal community look back at this with bewilderment—for what we recognize today as exceptional has become, to them, utterly ordinary. Farrah Bara Editor-in-Chief Duke Law Journal Recommended Citation Author name(s), Essay Title, in WOMEN & LAW page number, pin cite (2020) (joint publication of the top sixteen law reviews). FAMILY, GENDER, AND LEADERSHIP IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION KERRY ABRAMS† INTRODUCTION One hundred years ago, our nation ratified the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, extending to women the right to vote, run for public office, and serve on juries. Today, we celebrate all we have gained. Women are now leaders throughout society—of states, cities, and towns, of corporations, universities, and foundations. Indeed, this issue represents not only a celebration of the Nineteenth Amendment but also the leadership of women in the field of law: women now make up over 50 percent of law students,1 and the coeditors of this issue are the sixteen female editors-in- chief of the flagship law reviews of sixteen of the most prestigious law schools in the country. All told, these sixteen law schools have seven female deans. Our progress, however, is far from finished. In law, and in most elite professions, men still dramatically outnumber women in positions of leadership. Although half of law students and nearly half of lawyers are women, women make up only one-third of attorneys in private practice, 21 percent of equity partners, and 12 percent of the managing partners, chairmen, or CEOs of law firms.2 Men also run the corporations that we represent as lawyers: fewer than 5 percent of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are women.3 Women are also underrepresented as lawmakers and interpreters of the law, making up about 24 percent of Congress, 18 percent of governors, 29 percent of state legislators, 27 percent of mayors of the Copyright © 2020 Kerry Abrams. Edited by the Duke Law Journal. † James B. Duke and Benjamin N. Duke Dean and Professor of Law, Duke University School of Law. 1. Stephanie Francis Ward, Women Outnumber Men in Law Schools for First Time, Newly Updated Data Show, ABA J. (Dec. 19, 2016), http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/women_ outnumber_men_in_law_schools_for_first_time_newly_updated_data_show. 2. Cristina Violante & Jacqueline Bell, Law360’s Glass Ceiling Report, by the Numbers, LAW360 (May 28, 2018), https://www.law360.com/articles/1047285. 3. Judith Warner, Nora Ellmann & Diana Boesch, The Women’s Leadership Gap, CTR. FOR AM. PROGRESS (Nov. 20, 2018, 9:04 AM), https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2018/ 11/20/461273/womens-leadership-gap-2. 2 WOMEN & LAW largest one hundred cities,4 27 percent of federal judges,5 and 35 percent of state appellate judges.6 Why, despite years of equality in access to voting for lawmakers, do women still trail behind men in the legal profession? To understand what holds us back, I believe we need to look beyond political rights—voting, holding office, jury service—to gendered family norms and the workplace structures that reinforce these norms.