The New Normal

By Marcia Greenberger, Co-President,
National Women's Law Center

Cross-posted from Huffington Post 

The nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to replace Justice John Paul Stevens as an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court is historic. Never before have three women Justices sat on the Court at the same time, although it’s been nearly thirty years since the now-retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor broke through the glass ceiling to become the first woman Justice.

The great thing about a historic first is that it begins the process of transforming what came before into an outdated anachronism. For the Supreme Court, it means reaching a time when women Justices will no longer be viewed as tokens, even as interchangeable. When Justice O'Connor and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg served together on the Court, it was remarkable how often lawyers arguing cases before them confused the two and called each by the other's name—even though they look nothing alike.

Read the full post.