Lady Justice

I now realize that the author Dahlia used to be a prominent legal journalist reporting on the Supreme Court and also a podcast host, but I didn't know that. This book only made onto my radar coz I get most of my legal related news from Elie Mystal and Mark Joseph Stern and they both highly recommended this book, so how I could I resist picking it up.

I didn't even bother reading the premise, so I didn't know what this book was gonna be about. But what I got was like an extended profile of some very prominent women lawyers of the country who fought back against some of the most dangerous policies of GOP state governments or the 45th administration. From the people who fought against the Muslim Ban, suing the white supremacists behind the Charlottesville March, fighting for abortion rights, bringing to light the horrible sexual harassment in the legal circles and trying to preserve the right to vote in this country for everyone - this book is an excellent way to get to know about some of the women who have been at the forefront of fighting these legal battles for the rights of women and everyone else too.

There are moments in the book where it's easy to feel helpless and pessimistic because the law has never been about giving women equal rights and everything had to be fought for, through decades. It feels even worse this year with the reversal of Roe and as the author mentions, the haunting chant of “Lock her up” from the 2016 campaign seems to have become a GOP goal now across the country, to lock up as many women as they can for making a choice about their bodies and their lives. But as many of the lawyers in this book insist, we can't give in to this despair and it's important to continue the fight, both within the legal system as well as building grassroots movements and energizing the people.

And while I really admire the women mentioned here and those who are not but continue to fight everyday for the rights of Americans and all marginalized groups, the highest court of the land doesn't seem very interested in letting people have equal rights. So where does this leave the future.. who knows??? But I'm betting on all these fighters.