Judges Sandra L. Lynch, Nancy Gertner and Linda Greenhouse converse with U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, over their experiences in law in both their public and personal lives.

CLARIFICATION APPENDED

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and other prominent female legal figures urged audience members to continue the fight for women’s rights at a conference given by the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study yesterday afternoon.

The conference, “Gender and the Law: Unintended Consequences, Unsettled Questions,” will continue all day today in Radcliffe Yard.

The conference began yesterday with a panel composed of Ginsburg, U.S. District Court of Massachusetts Judge Nancy Gertner, First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Chief Judge Sandra L. Lynch, and former New York Times legal journalist Linda J. Greenhouse ’68.

The panel discussion focused largely on Ginsburg.

The Justice spoke about her experiences as a female in the traditionally male-dominated field of law. When she attended Harvard Law School, Ginsburg said, she was one of only nine women in her class, and when she began working as a lawyer, legal gender discrimination was rampant.

Ginsburg described a Michigan law prohibiting women from bartending, and recalled a case in which a woman was convicted of murdering her husband by an all-male jury.

“That gives you an example of what the world was like not so very long ago,” she said.

But when the panelists began discussing modern women’s movements, Ginsburg acknowledged that progress now requires more than just legal action.

“There are distinct limits to law,” Ginsburg said. “You have to spark a change in what people want to do, what kinds of lives they want to live.”

Radcliffe Dean Barbara J. Grosz said she decided to focus this year’s gender conference on law for two reasons—she recognized that law greatly impacts women’s rights campaigns and she wanted to engage Law School faculty into the conference. [SEE CLARIFICATION BELOW]

The panelists were not devoid of humor.

After Ginsburg described former Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist rehearsing to swear her in, Greenhouse said, “I think rehearsal’s a good thing when you’re swearing somebody in, right?”

The reference was to a blunder by current Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. ’76 that came when he swore in President Barack Obama two months ago.

Greenhouse’s joke caused the audience to erupt in laughter for several seconds, while Ginsburg smiled and remained silent.

“She’s very strong, very articulate, focused,” said audience member Dorothy S. Altman ’52 of Ginsburg. “She’s not frail at all.”

—Staff writer Danielle J. Kolin can be reached at dkolin@fas.harvard.edu.

CLARIFICATION: The March 13 article "Justice Speaks on Gender" included a paraphrase of remarks by Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study Dean Barbara J. Grosz that suggested one of the reasons for organizing the conference in question was "to engage Law School faculty into the conference."  In fact, Grosz meant to speak even more generally, stating that her intent was to engage Law School faculty into Radcliffe Institute activities.