"Ginsburg: Court needs another woman"

[Captain_Nemo]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/judicial/2009-05-05-ruthginsburg_N.htm?csp=usat.me

In interviews with USA TODAY before Souter's retirement announcement Friday, Ginsburg said the court needs another woman. "Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. I don't say (the split) should be 50-50," Ginsburg said. "It could be 60% men, 40% women, or the other way around. It shouldn't be that women are the exception."

~snip~

Ginsburg said having just one woman on the Supreme Court sends a disheartening message to Americans about women's roles in society. She stressed the contrast between the Supreme Court and international courts, many of which have higher percentages of women.

The nine-member Supreme Court of Canada, for example, has four women justices, including the chief justice. Ginsburg also pointed to state courts in the USA, where, according to the National Center for State Courts, 20 top state benches, including those in Florida, Michigan and Wisconsin, are led by female chief justices.

The "worst part," Ginsburg said, is the image a single woman at the high court projects, particularly to young people visiting the court: "Young women are going to think, 'Can I really aspire to that kind of post?' "

[dem629]

1. It would be hard to get 50/50 with nine people.

60/40, too. So I agree with her that it doesn't have to be that breakdown.

[Hekate]

2. That's not her point. Having 9 ensures no tie votes, but having only one of them be female...

... is flat-out wrong. That's why Justice Ginsberg specified 60-40 either way.

Hekate

[dem629]

3. I know what her point was, and frankly that's not a good way to choose a judge.

So I decided to have a little fun with her math.

No big deal.

[Captain_Nemo]

5. Yes, it is a good reason. We are under represented in our own country

It is the whole reason we have affirmative action. Representation.

Women are 51 % of the population.

We are 17% of the congress
We have 7 Governors
We have never had a woman in the Oval Office
We have one SC judge.

Don't bother "having fun" with my math.

We are talking about gender parity on the court. Fairness. Equality. You're a liberal, stretch your mind.

[dem629]

6. I haven't put a label on myself, but you are of course free to do it for me.

Not that it matters.

I'm not into identity politics, so I believe in choosing the best candidate possible who is willing to accept the nomination. I care about the law, so my focus is on the relevant aspects of what a potential new Justice would be doing, not what they look like.

Carry on.

[Hekate]

8. "I'm not into identity politics." Let me guess, Gender Undeclared...

... you are a person of the human persuasion who at a job interview has never been asked what your childbearing plans are, whether you have children and what your daycare situation is, have not been paid at least 25% less for doing the same category of work that other humans with different genitals get paid to do, have not had to pay for all of your birth control medication out of pocket because it's not included in the company health plan, have not had your every qualification scrutinized extra hard, have not discovered that your job that requires 2+ years of college and a complete office suite of computer software is considered "payroll equivalent" to the groundskeepers at the same institution ...

Just a guess.

The US now has 2+ generations of female law school graduates, many of color, and some of them superlative. It's not a question of "finding only the most qualified," it's a question of just how hard the search committee has to close its eyes, stick its fingers in its ears and go "la la la I can't heeeear you" in order NOT to find a whole slew of supremely qualified women as candidates for the Supreme Court.

Their life-experiences are really different from that of men. It's true that some women are conservative, some are right-wing, and some are batshit crazy like Michelle Bachman. But most are not, in fact most women trend liberal on social issues. There is a deep pool of fully-qualified liberal and moderate women out there, and I want to be represented in court by several of them.

Hekate

[TahitiNut]

9. Well, Little George wanted to appoint Harriet Miers.

:hide:

[Hekate]

11. That's because she was one of his Mommies, not because he gave a damn about the needs of the Court

Thank gods W is gone and we now have Obama.

Hekate

[dem629]

12. You're correct about some of that, wrong about other.

So it's not just a woman you want, but a woman who agrees with you.

This really isn't about gender, then?

[dweller]

4. As a resident of Earth

i would just like to go on the record in agreement.

Gaia needs more representation, in all regards, in every catagory, in all aspects.

This is not meant to be snarky, or smartass, for seriously i would embrace her influence in any realm of my existence.

peace
dp

[ControlledDemolition]

7. At least under Obama the SCOTUS won't become the SCROTUS!

SCROTUS = Supreme Court Republicans Of The United States!

[defendandprotect]

10. Supreme Court needs a bunch of women . . . PLEASE . . .!!!

I'm also for gender balance laws . . . and we should stick with women until

we reach 4 or 5 of the Justices . . !!!

[Poiuyt]

13. At first, I thought this post was about BEN Ginsberg