Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Speak at West Virginia University College of Law Oct. 20

6 October 2005

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsburg, the only woman serving on the country's highest court pending a
confirmation of Harriet Miers, is coming to West Virginia University Thursday,
Oct. 20.
Ginsburg will speak at 2 p.m. that day at the WVU College of Law's Lugar
Courtroom.
"We are understandably thrilled that Justice Ginsburg is paying us a
visit," Dean John Fisher said. "It's always an honor when we have a Supreme
Court justice here, and the recent vacancies on the court have created a new
interest in the justices and the proceedings."
Ginsburg's visit comes during a time of rare turnover for the court whose
justices are appointed for life.
Chief Justice William Rehnquist died last month of complications from
thyroid cancer, and Justice Sandra Day O'Conner, the first woman ever to be
appointed to the court when President Reagan nominated her in 1981, announced
in July that she would retire.
In the months since, John Roberts has been confirmed by the Senate as
chief justice to replace the late Rehnquist, whom he once served as law clerk.
And President Bush nominated the earlier mentioned Miers, a current White
House counsel, as O'Conner's replacement. If confirmed, she'll join Ginsburg
as one of two women justices sitting on the court.
The Brooklyn-born Ginsburg was tapped as President Clinton's first choice
for the court in 1993, to replace the retiring Justice Byron R. White. Before
that, she was a U.S. Court of Appeals judge in the D.C. Circuit, an
appointment made by President Carter.
She has long been hailed for her work in women's rights and civil
liberties issues. She's a graduate of Cornell University and Columbia Law
School, where she returned as a professor and the first woman with tenure to
be hired there.
A position at Rutgers University Law School followed, where she battled
for maternity leave rights for New Jersey school teachers.
President Carter appointed her an appeals judge as she was serving a
fellowship at Stanford's Center for Advanced Study in Behavior Sciences.
Ginsburg's visit to WVU follows earlier appearances by O'Conner in 1997
and Rehnquist in 1999.

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