Women of the Court

A new portrait was unveiled this week in Washington D.C. that depicts the four women who have served on the U.S. Supreme Court: former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and current Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan. The portrait is located at the National Portrait gallery and was painted by artist Nelson Shanks.

The Ohio Supreme Court has had 10 women serve as justices. The first was Florence Allen, who served on the court from 1923 until 1934. It would be another 47 years before the second woman served on the bench. Blanche Krupansky was appointed to the bench in 1981. Since then, there have been eight more women either elected or appointed to the Supreme Court, including the state’s first female Chief Justice, Maureen O’Connor, who was elected in 2010. When I was elected as the 150th justice in 2004, Alice Robie Resnick, Deborah Cook, and Evelyn Lundberg Stratton had already been serving on the court. Yvette McGee Brown began her term in 2011.

It’s also important to note that since January 2011, the Ohio Supreme Court has had a continuous female majority. Here’s a picture taken last year in the Eighth District Courtroom under the historic phrase “This is a Government of Law Not of Men.”


Pictured left to right: Former Justice Yvette McGee Brown,

who lost in last year’s election; Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor;

Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger; and Former Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton,

who retired last year.

Since that picture was taken, two new justices, Sharon Kennedy and Judith French, have joined the court to continue the 4-3 female majority.

I’m honored to have served with all of my colleagues, women and men, who are dedicated to the law.

John Marshall’s Legacy of Independence

On every Fourth of July, Independence Day,  we celebrate what makes the United States of America different from other countries.  200 years ago the fourth Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme court, John Marshall, was appointed by President John Adams.   For 34 years he headed the nation’s federal judiciary, which helps insure our independence.

Marshall was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and was Secretary of State before being appointed Chief Justice.  He served during seven different presidential terms, dying in 1835 during Andrew Jackson’s second term.  He still holds the record for longest serving Chief Justice.

Before Chief Justice Marshall’s term , the Supreme Court was considered a minor part of the government.  Marshall not only made the judicial branch co-equal to the two other branches , as it is today, but he also presided over a case that announced the Supreme Court’s  authority to overrule the executive branch, legislative branch, states, and lower courts, when necessary.

In the significant case of  Marbury v. Madison, decided in 1803, the Supreme Court said that the U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land and that conflicting laws cannot be enforced. The Marshall court clarified that federal law supersedes state law, and that the Supreme Court is the federal court of last resort.  Marshall wrote opinions about the meaning of  ‘commerce’ in the Constitution, the protection  of private institutions from state interference, and explained that the Bill of Rights applied to states as well as the federal government.  These cases remain some of the most important in the court’s history.

So, as we watch the fireworks around the country this year, take time to think about those who contributed to today’s independent nation.  Although the judicial branch is sometimes overlooked, 200 years ago John Marshall’s influence changed the government, and gave federal courts power to enforce constitutional law.  Marshall is a giant of the judiciary and one of the many who have allowed our nation to flourish  and  to celebrate Independence Day for years to come.