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Friday, July 22, 2005

A Step Backwards

Posted by on July 22 at 13:20 PM

Call me trite or predictable or “PC,” but something obvious needs to be said about the Roberts nomination. Sandra Day O’Connor was the first woman appointed to the SC. Just because Ruth Bader Ginsburg is on the Court now doesn’t give Bush the latitude to stray from the O’Connor precedent. In fact, Ginsburg’s presence on the Court should have put more of a burden on Bush to appoint a woman. The significance of the O’Connor precedent, and what made it less of a token appointment, is that it paved the way for Ginsburg to be appointed and bring the Court somewhat closer to the actual make up of America’s legal landscape where 30% of lawyers are women. If Ginsburg is the only woman on the SC, females will only make up 11 percent of the Court.