Thinking of Justice Ginsburg

“There are so many parts of Ginsburg’s life, career and character for us to learn from and be inspired by. The way she soldiered through the sexism and antisemitism that limited her early employment opportunities. How she balanced early motherhood and her young husband’s cancer diagnosis with acing Harvard Law School. The glorious, egalitarian, passionate partnership she shared with her husband Marty. The pioneering of feminist legal battles. The planks!” Jodi Ruderon

I can’t get Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg out of my mind ever since her untimely death on the Friday night of Rosh Hashanah, an auspicious time of year to die. She was a true “tsadik” which is a saintly or righteous person according to Jewish faith. A tsadik is kind of a spiritual superhero who does what is correct and just. Some say she had superhuman abilities to make the world a better place, while being the most human of humans.

Okay. You are nervous that I will now talk about her current potential replacement and espouse my views about a woman’s right to choose, court packing and dismantling the Affordable Care Act. Relax, I have no such plans. We all see enough of that on the media and I avoid talking politics in my blog posts. Whew, I am glad that is out of the way.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg made me think of my law school days. No, I am not comparing myself to Justice Ginsburg. Our only similarities are our birthplace in Brooklyn and our religion. I have been reflecting on why I went to law school in the first place and the entire experience.

Like Justice Ginsburg, I went to law school to change the world. Well, not exactly. I believe I attended law school at age 36 (with an 11 year old daughter and 9 year old son) for the following reasons:

1. I was a paralegal at the time and enjoyed being called “counselor” when I dropped off documents at the courthouse. How shallow, how dumb, how expensive, how un-Ginsburg-like.
2. To please my dad–I think that’s why I married my ex–I see a pattern here.
3. I loved the show LA Law which romanticized lawyering.
4. I felt strongly about immigrants and wanted to improve their lives–true!

Someone asked me recently if I enjoyed law school. It’s not really something to enjoy, especially when you have a family that still expected dinner on the table and your attendance at their baseball games. I remember sitting in the bleachers watching games, nervously looking at my watch, thinking about all the cases waiting to be briefed later that night–pressure!

Remember the movie and tv show “The Paper Chase”, where Harvard law students were put on the hot seat and questioned unmercifully by mean Professor Kingsfield in front of the class, in order to prepare them for unforgiving judges.

Well, guess who was one of the targets of this behavior on the part of Professor Weinstein in Torts, first semester of first year. You got it–Ms. Bleyer. Weinstein victimized only the older women and many ran out of the class in tears. I, on the other hand, told him to move on after relentless questioning on a case, telling Professor Weinstein that my mind was blank. The professor wrote on the board the following BMS with a circle around it and a cross through it. (Reminiscent of PMS). He stated “Ms. Bleyer has Blank Mind Syndrome”. After I was mortified, he moved on to another female victim. Second semester, I wowed him with my knowledge of master/servant relationship, but I never forgot that experience.

Years two to four were better and I was even chosen for the Constitutional Law Award. Even more important, I met my best friend Livia, the first day of law school and we survived that together and so much more since we graduated and passed the NYS Bar in 1990. That friendship was worth all the stress and worry.

Rest in peace, Justice Ginsburg. I will keep you in my head and heart always and follow your words:

“Fight for the things you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you”. XO Penny