Speaking at a conference for judges in New York state, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg praised her fellow colleague Justice Brett Kavanaugh for his hiring of an all-female law clerk to team advance women in the legal sphere.
Kavanaugh, who was nearly prevented from joining SCOTUS after being accused last summer of committing sexual assault in the 1980s as a teenager, promised to hire an all-female clerk team during his confirmation hearings last year. Kavanaugh followed through with this commitment and becuase of this Justice Ginsburg told an audience yesterday that, "Justice Kavanaugh made history by bringing on board an all-female law clerk crew. Thanks to his selections, the Court has this Term, for the first time ever, more women than men serving as law clerks," according to The Hill.
Still, the justice notes there are still strides to be made for women in the court. "[But] women did not fare nearly as well as advocates," Ginsburg continued. "Only about 21% of the attorneys presenting oral argument this Term were female; of the thirty-four attorneys who appeared more than once, only six were women."
In addition to her remarks on Kavanaugh, the Justice also commented that the court has not necessarily been ideological in its decision making as of late, but that could change depending on the slate of decisions expected to be made the rest of this term.
"Of the 43 argued cases resolved so far, on 11, or just over 25-percent, were decided by a vote of 5-4 or 5-3. Given the number of most watched cases still unannounced, I cannot predict that the relatively low sharp divisions ratio will hold," she told the crowd.
The Justice also remarked that the case, Department of Commerce v. New York, is one of "huge importance" which will decide whether the Commerce Department can legally have a "citizenship question on the 2020 census questionnaire."
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