Not the normal thing

Written on January 26, 2007 by David C. Sarnacki

USA Today reveals the loneliness of being the only woman on the US Supreme Court.

Joan Biskupic writes (excerpt):
For now, O’Connor’s absence is more symbolic. In court, the sight of Ginsburg — a slight figure in a tall, black leather chair, flanked by eight men — contrasts with the rising prominence of women in Congress. The number of female judges also is rising: Of the 875 federal judges, 201 are women.

Ginsburg is encouraged by such numbers, but disconcerted by the look of her own court. She said with O’Connor, the message was: “Here are two women. They don’t look alike. They don’t always vote alike. But here are two women.” The former women’s rights lawyer fears the message now is that a woman justice is a “one-at-a-time curiosity, not the normal thing.”

Posted in Something Different