Judge Nancy Gertner receives ABA Thurgood Marshall Award for contributions to civil and human rights

Anna — Sat, 9 Feb 2008 11:47:07 -0600

Harold Koh, Dean of Yale Law School, informs me that Judge Nancy Gertner, District of Massachusetts, will receive the 2008 Thurgood Marshall Award from the American Bar Association and the ABA Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities. The award recognizes long-term contributions to "the advancement of civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights in the United States." Justice Marshall received the inaugural award in 1992. In seventeen years, Judge Gertner is only the second woman to receive the award. (The other woman was Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg!) Other past recipients of the award are Jack Greenberg, Don Edwards, and Stephen Bright.

Koh reports that "Nancy will receive the award in New York City on August 9, 2008, in the middle of the ABA meeting. Any members of our community are most welcome to attend." Judge Gertner has supported Ms. JD since she spoke at our launch from Yale Law School in March 2007. [Here is a streaming video of Judge Gertner addressing the Ms. JD conference, and here is an article she guest-blogged.] It has been my fortune to interact (albeit briefly) with Judge Gertner before, during, and since the conference; she is as gracious and personable as her record is commendable. Congratulations, Judge Gertner!

Catherine Roraback, Civil Rights Trailblazer [Clippings]

Anna — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:21:59 -0500

Catherine Roraback was the only woman in her graduating class at Yale Law School in 1948. Because of her gender, she had to come and go by the back door at the New Haven Graduate Club. She went on to champion civil liberties, litigating for the Black Panthers in the 1970s and winning the landmark Supreme Court case Griswold v. Connecticut. She passed away this week at age 87. Read more about Catherine Roraback in her Hartford Courant obituary.