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SISTERS IN LAW

How Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World

By

Linda Hirshman

“In addition to its clever title, this book offers an illuminating analysis of the ascent by Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the United States Supreme Court. A lawyer and women’s studies scholar, Hirshman (Victory: The Triumphant Gay Revolution; A Woman’s Guide to Law School) excels in portraying the enormous obstacles encountered by women attempting to enter the legal field. . . . . VERDICT: This superb book unpacks the remarkable achievements of the first

two female Supreme Court justices, “sisters in law,” indeed. Perfect for readers relishing Jeffrey

Toobin’s The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court.”

—Library Journal, *Starred Review*

“Hirshman’s conversational style and deep analysis of several precedent-setting constitutional cases should appeal to both casual and professional readers.”

—Publishers Weekly

“An intelligent, evenhanded look at a changing society and its legal foundations.”
—Kirkus Reviews

As the first and second women appointed to the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg forever changed society, both throughthe new legal framework of equality they helped construct and by the example they set as women of monumental achievement. So different in so many ways—Republican/Democrat, Goldwater girl/liberal, daughter of a Western rancher/Brooklyn-

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born opera lover—the two women forged a remarkable, supportivefriendship during their joint tenure on the highest court in the land. In SISTERS IN LAW: How Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World(Harper; ISBN 13: 9780062238467;

Hardcover;$28.99/$35.99 Can.; On sale: September 1, 2015), celebrated legal scholar and acclaimed writer Linda Hirshman tells the intertwined story of these two trailblazing women, from their very different childhoods to their journeys through a man’s world of law school and law practice, to the

great influence they would wield in defining issues of modern feminism, including women in the

military, abortion, affirmative action, and sexual harassment.

“Justices O’Connor and Ginsburg have a stunning history of achievement in a wide range of legal decisions,” Hirshman writes. “But SISTERS IN LAW tells the story of how together at the pinnacle of legal power they made women equal before the law. They argued for equality, they were the living manifestations of equality, and, because they took power before the revolution was over, they were in the unprecedented position of ordering equality….All movements have heroes. Who get to the pantheon is often in dispute. But not in this case. Neither of them is perfect, of course, but Justices Ginsburg and O’Connor are the unambiguous heroines of the modern feminist movement. And everyone needs heroes.”

SISTERS IN LAW is the book that Linda Hirshman was born to write. The author, most recentlyof Victory, a widely acclaimed history of the gay rights movement, is an attorney who has argued before the Supreme Court, a historian of social movements, and a feminist who came of age personally and professionally looking up to these two women. Hirshman had unprecedented access to key figures in the two justices’ lives and careers, from former academic and political colleagues to dozens of law clerks, all of whom have spoken freely.

Even now that her story draws to a close, a crucial part of Justice O’Connor’s life legacy was to make way for Justice Ginsburg.When Justice O’Connor was nominated to be the First in 1981, she

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said, famously, that while she was First, she did not want to be the last. And she worked her hardest to be sure she was clearing a path for the next one. No one could have suited her better than her brainy, competent Second, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. After Ginsburg came on the Court, O’Connor drops a line

about her new companion to her friend and mentor Barry Goldwater:“Justice Ginsburg is a very capable and knowledgeable Justice.” And together they made more change than either could have dreamed of doing alone. It may not take a village, but it takes a couple.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Linda Hirshman is a lawyer and cultural historian and the author of SISTERS IN LAW: How Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World, Victory: The Triumphant Gay Revolutionand many other books. She received her JD from the University of Chicago Law School and her PhD in philosophy from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and she has taught philosophy and women’s studies at Brandeis University. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Washington Post, Slate, Newsweek, the Daily Beast, and POLITICO. She divides her time between New York City and Phoenix, Arizona. *For more on Linda Hirshman, visit: and follow her on Twitter at:@LindaHirshman1

SISTERS IN LAW:

How Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World

By Linda Hirshman

Harper/HarperCollins Publishers

ISBN 13: 9780062238467

$28.99/$35.99 Can.; Hardcover; 416 pages

On-sale: September 1, 2015

Also available in these fine formats:

Harper E-Book:ISBN 13: 9780062238481

HarperAudio book: ISBN 13: 9780062425133

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