U.S. Justice visits Lawrence

Second woman on court recalls fight for equality

Ruth Bader Ginsburg remembers taking classes in a Harvard University law school building that didn’t have a women’s restroom.

With only nine women in her class of more than 500, there didn’t appear to be much need.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg responds during a question-and-answer session with Kansas University law students and faculty. Ginsburg, well known for her work with the American Civil Liberties Union and the women's rights movement, visited KU on Thursday. Stephen McAllister, KU's law dean, is pictured at right.

It was one of many obstacles women studying law in the late 1950s faced, Ginsburg said Thursday at during a visit to Kansas University.

“What amazes me today,” she said, “is we didn’t complain about it.”

During her first visit to the KU School of Law, Ginsburg participated in a question-and-answer session with law students, spoke to two law classes and ate lunch with female law students.

Ginsburg, who will celebrate her 72nd birthday Tuesday, spent much of her legal career championing women’s rights, serving as the first director of the Women’s Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union. She was the first woman hired with tenure at Columbia Law School, and in 1993 became the second woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

During her first year in law school, Ginsburg said, she sat down with her fellow female law students at their dean’s house, where he asked why they were “occupying a seat that could have been occupied by a man.” He later said the question was asked so he could explain the inclusion of women to others affiliated with the law school.

“That’s how he perceived it,” Ginsburg said. “The women of the class felt quite differently.”

text Legal Information Institute: Ruth Bader Ginsburg

She said things have changed so much since those days that “it’s got to seem like ancient times” to current students.

But Ginsburg said her gender — like her religion — didn’t affect her decisions.

“My heritage is part of what I am, just as I am female,” she said. “I don’t think I judge differently because I’m a Jew or I’m a woman.”

Jamie Boldt, a first-year law student from Olathe, said she appreciated hearing Ginsburg’s comments, especially those about being a woman in the legal profession.

Kansas University Law School Dean Stephen McAllister walks with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as she exits a classroom where she held a question-and-answer session with students and faculty. Ginsburg, known for her work with the ACLU in the women's rights movement, visited KU on Thursday.

“It gives you a new perspective,” she said. “I knew it was like that, but it’s interesting to hear it from someone who went through it and led the way.”

Joel Bannister, a third-year student from Hays, agreed.

“It gives us insight into the court you can’t get from simply reading the constitutional books,” he said.

Among comments Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg made during a visit to the KU School of Law:¢ On the health of Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who has cancer: “The chief was always a man of few words. Now he’s more concise. We’re all so proud of him, for not letting this disease defeat him. He was determined to swear in the president, and he did.”¢ On whether she thought the court should have struck down all state abortion laws in the Roe v. Wade decision, echoing previous comments she has made: “The law was changing. Women were lobbying around that issue. … The Supreme Court stopped all that by deeming every law — even the most liberal — as unconstitutional. That seemed to me not the way courts generally work.”¢ On the collegiality of the justices, whom she said ate lunch and celebrated special occasions together often: “Despite some sharp differences on some very important issues … we are good friends, have enormous respect for each other and enjoy each other’s company.”¢ On why judicial confirmation hearings are becoming more contentious: “That kind of bipartisanship (seen in previous Congresses) seems to be absent, and I hope it is restored.”