Husband irvings are here i was by her personal journey and undying faith in humanity. I also learned she and Justice Ginsburg when we moved to washington, it seems natural to organize the conversation between these two extraordinary women. Iat opportunity arose when had the privilege of attending a small private dinner. She had Justice Ginsburg with and i asked her if this if this group would be interested in a conversation. It became this threesome. It would not have been possible had Justice Ginsburg not reached out to doris. This evening is the result of the support of many extraordinary women who pull their resources together. , the three justices, of course, misses wilhelmina holiday. She has the only Museum Dedicated to a woman in the arts in the world. Judy woodruff, icon in journalism. Misses bennett, a force of nature in washington. My friend connie milstein. And many, many others. This evening, this conversation is truly historic and we have gathered three women from three s from threet countries. They are each a living monument. At a time when so many people are asking where are the women they are here, they are there, they are everywhere. We have to look, we have to ask, we have to listen, and we have to act. Francis taking action. Each of us in this room has the power to identify leaders and become a leader ourselves. What astounded me with these three justices from very different backgrounds, each took similar paths. Canada, the United States, and israel, each of these women were the first in their countries. It says a lot about the cycles of history. We are witnessing another important cycle as the issues of womens rights is a conversation worldwide across all cultures. We are looking to identify those leading the path for change and we have an opportunity to give three of them even more visibility. When you think about it, these women have an impact on the future of their countries for generations to come. Elected officials decisions can be altered by the court and the Supreme Court defined some of those issues today which will impact future generations. At culturals look changes in our society around the world, these leaders will be at the forefront. Historians will read their decisions and this one will stand out. We hope you enjoy this evening. Toase allow Judy Woodruff begin this historic conversation. Thank you. [applause] judy thank you for being the inspiration behind this evening. What a treasure it is to bring these three extraordinary women together. It is not only my great privilege, it is an extra an area honor extraordinary honor and a great pleasure to be here. I want to thank susan sterling for introducing us. I want to thank wilhelmina holiday, whose idea it was to have this museum and the Perfect Place to have this conversation in the city of washington and at this moment. Lets get started. Are three pathbreaking women. You have to read their whole biographies in the program. I want to remind everybody a little bit about who they are and where they came from truly. I will lead off the conversation and we will leave sometime at the end for questions from you and the audience. Keep that in mind. First, from your left, the honorable Justice Rosalie silverman abella of the Supreme Court of canada. She is one of nine justices. 29 years old when she was first appointed as a judge of the ontario family court, making her the youngest and the first pregnant judge in canadian history. Earlier, she practiced civil and criminal law. She moved to the Ontario Court of appeal, before being named to the Supreme Court. She has been actively engaged in employment equity, Labor Relations law, access to Legal Services to those with disabilities. One ofconsidered canadas foremost experts in human rights law. On a personal note, the justice was born in displaced persons camp in germany soon after the end of world war ii. Her family came to canada as refugees four years later. From the royale conservatory of music in classical piano. [applause] next, the honorable doris danish, the president of the Supreme Court of israel. She served in that capacity for six years, the first woman to do so. Forwas recognized among focus on protecting human rights and civil rights, the rights of women and children, the socially vulnerable, immigrant workers. Her service as president followed 10 years as a justice of that court. She served as a district attorney. State attorney of thatl, the first woman in country. Someone we know very well, the honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg, associate dust just justice of United States. Serving in her 21st year was only the second woman appointed to the u. S. Supreme court when she was named in 1993 by president clinton. She spent 13 years serving as a federal Appeals Court judge for the district of columbia. That followed a distinguished legal teaching career at Rutgers University where she cofounded the first law journal in this country to focus exclusively on womens rights and columbia university. Landmark cases before the Supreme Court on gender discrimination. She was described by the new yorker magazine as the Supreme Court most accomplished litigator. She was born in brooklyn new york. Graduated in 1959, at the top of her class. She did not receive a single job offer. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I want to Start Talking with you about how you grew up. That shaped you. Brooklyn, going up, tell us what it was like. I grew up withg world war ii the overwhelming presence. Remembersad time and i ddayhilaration first on we were all doing something to contribute to the war effort. We saved from our allowance bonds buy stamps, or war bonds. The end of world war ii was a hopeful time in our country. City andwas new york iu spent your formative years heartthe heart in the of that city. Justice ginsburg in the adirondacks in the summer. [applause] [laughter] judy that is a good thing. Up, yourbout growing family. Justice beinisch i was born in tel aviv. 1933. Ents came in it was palestine, not the state of israel. They were kind of pioneers, active for the movement for jewish people coming. Background, my mother was a. Indergarten teacher thought tonce she educate young children. She was very active. My father was working in public service. It was not an easy time. N i was born, thought it would be a burden on their children. Futureforesaw what the would be for them. I was always interested in education. Chance that i came to love it so much. Hebrew, i was six years old when the state was established. Judy do you remember that . Yes. Ce beinisch it was excitement. We all accompanied the developments of the state. Background. Judy you really grew up with israel. War brought the three of you together. Different times, different places, and it affected all of you. You were born in germany. What is a displaced persons camp . Parents werea my polish. My mothers family were Business People in australia. Operating re and they got married september 3, 1939. Spent fourchild and years at a concentration camp. The child was killed. It is quite a remarkable story. When my mother came wrote theland, she rails to prague. There was a typhoid epidemic. Shes not in with the garbage she snuck in with the garbage detail. Nobody was allowed in. She said she found him in the back of the camp, very frail, listening to the radio. The ended up in germany. Stunned by the decision to have more children after Something Like that. I was born very soon after that. Speak german. Us my Mother Tongue is german. They wanted us to feel like we belong. Hate, theret any was just the desire to overcome and make us feel normal. They spoke polish to each other. My grandmother lived with us and she spoke yetish. Yiddish. Letters fromese american judges and lawyers, wonderful letters, recommending him for when he was able to come into canada. Why did you choose canada . Justice abella he had a relative here. One of my earliest memories in canada, my mother learned english and switch to english in the home. And i remember my father coming i have done my eight years of training. What do i have to do to practice law . And they said you cant. You have to be a citizen. Had my sister, he had my mother to look after. He became an insurance agent. I never heard him complain. Be aey will not let him lawyer, i will be a lawyer. I know women who were lawyers. All i knew was he wanted to be it so i was going to be at. It was not until i was 13 when i read a lot of books on weekends because nobody ever asked me out. That is ok. Judy we dont believe this. It was good but i decided to be a lawyer. I did not know any women who were lawyers. When i got pregnant in 1973, i did not know any mothers who were lawyers. I was tenacious in my desire to replace what he could not be. The most important thing about my childhood, as an immigrant, you have zero expectations of entitlement. It is all about opportunity. It is all about working really , working really hard in school so you are a top student in school. I played piano because it was important to my parents. They wanted it and i was all about making sure that i lived in accordance with their values. We did not grow up in a jewish neighborhood. Of all the kids i knew growing up, it was the happiest home. They never complained. They were never bitter. I never had a sense of demons in the house. I did not know until i was much older that it was not typical. They made me think i could do anything. They also said, you will get married and have children. You can be a lawyer, but you are going to get married. Was a merger of aspirations. Judy Justice Ginsberg, i dont think you mentioned your occupation of your parents. What sort of influence did they have and other family members have on your ultimate interest in the law . My mother was an avid reader. She never dreamed, i never dreamed that it would be possible to be a lawyer. I was going to be a High School History teacher. People asked me did you always want to be a judge . I said when i got out of law school the object was to get a job. Any job in the law. These were pretitle seven days so employers were up front that they didnt want any women. The law school my class in law school had about 500 students, nine of them were women. So you can imagine what a tremendous opportunity i had when the Womens Movement came alive again at the end of the 1960s and there i was a law teacher and able to contribute whatever talent i had to nudge this movement a little further. What do you think pulled you in the direction of the law and toward the idea of wanting to have something to do with justice . In large part it was a professor that i had at cornell university. His name was robert e. Cushman. I attended from 1950 to 1954. A bad time for our country. It was the heyday of senator Joseph Mccarthy who saw a communist in every corner. And my professor wanted me to understand that our country was straying from its most basic values, that there were lawyers representing people, many of them in the entertainment industry, who were reminding our house on American Activities Committee and Senate Security committee that our constitution has a first amendment, freedom of expression, and a fifth amendment, protecting people from selfincrimination. So it was the idea that a lawyer was a profession and it was a field in which you could make things a little better. Now, i have to say also that my family was not too keen on the idea of my going to law school mainly because they were interested in my being able to support myself. But then when marty and i married, it was okay to be a lawyer because if it didnt work out i had a man to support me. [laughter] judy so the heat was they were relaxed about it after that . Im curious about how you all have spoken a little bit about, you no, the direction of the law but it wasnt just the law. You all have been advocates in your own way. You have all as we mentioned human rights has been a passion for all of you. But along the way, there was something that kept you going. It wasnt just as you are saying, it wasnt just seeing that laws get passed by legislative bodies or that lawyers get a case argued, it was about as Justice Ginsberg just said, making things better. Was there a point when you heard a voice, justice bainisch inside your head that said this is what i want . You know, looking backwards, to be sincere, i think how did i come to law. It wasnt my first my first dream was to be also a High School Teacher for history. And i went to the university to study history and literature. But really i believed that you have to do something for your society. This was part of the education i got at home and i thought the best thing is to influence society through education to be with a young againation. And generation. I dont know how last minute decision was that i have to do a change from my routine thinking about education and i thought it as revolution to go into law school. Judy where did that idea come from . Justice beinisch i dont know. Because i wanted a change. And once i started i really fell in love with this profession, with law. You know, my surrounding everyone, i always tell the story that after i went, i started to law school i met my School Master from high school. She was a very important personality in education. Very influencial. And she said dorit, what are you going to study . I was then just released from the military service. I said well, i decided on law. She was so disappointed. [laughter] at the end, she said you know, if you will be a judge in the juvenile courts this could be good. Why was she disappointed initially . How can we contribute. Can contribute to society. This is the truth. Much more than in any other field. She thought lawyers have their business. Sin. Ess is a we were looking for something t would be for the value what shall i do to be adjudged . Judge . E a i never thought about being a judge when i was your age. It is not easy. Easier said than done. This is today. They always start when they are 8, 10, 12 years old. Judy or even four. [laughter] Justice Ginsburg law is still a firstdegree in israel. Young when you entered law school. Two years insch the military service, and only then did i start law school. Started at 20 years old. Judy when you were 20 . Got caughtnisch i by law and i loved every minute of it. This was in the 1970s. The womens career in law in israel was easier than the United States. Way. Ne else paves the during the british mandate in women were not allowed to argue cases. They had to fight for that. They came to the council in london. It was british before the state was founded. Someone paved the way. We did not have many women in the profession but we already had some when i started. Judy in the 1970s. A few years before justice oconnor. What about being a woman . Us,ice abella for all of it was inconceivable when we were young and inconceivable when we started practicing law that we would ever be adjudged. Inconceivable. There were no women judges. Maybe two or three in the whole country. One of the reasons that was an advantage, and especially if you are kind of an outsider, hard to talk about outsiderinsider when you are on the Supreme Court, but we all understand. You do what you feel is the right thing to do. Judy what do you mean outsider . Justice abella if you know you are different, if you are not like the rest of the culture you are traditionally in. I was jewish, immigrant, female in a male profession that was largely grandfather was a Supreme Court judge and father was a Supreme Court judge. I say that only because it can be a great advantage to understand you are different, that you are never going to be like everybody else. Enjoy the fact that you are different. Dont try to homogenize. If you are comfortable in your skin, it means you do things not toward the possibility of an against whichtive you measure all of your opportunities and choices. You take risks. Be a judge, i will at 29. I will run a Law Reform Commission when nobody else wants to do it. My ultimateagainst objective because i was having a wonderful ride in the legal profession. , dont say,m asked this is where i want to end up. You have no idea where you are going to end up. Give yourself a chance. What comes first, the music or the words . The other advantage our generation has, we had the but thenof the 1950s you have the 1960s, which were an awakening of social institution and arrangements that had been in existence for 100 years, the Womens Movement. In the 1970s, all of the dialogue. We added aboriginal issues, sexual orientation. We were a generation in which changes all around us. That was a great advantage because to be a lawyer in an environment where it was legal change, social change, justice change, you had all of these troops screaming for entry into the groups screaming for entry into the mainstream, that was a privileged time to be a lawyer. We all cared about the ultimate goal we wanted a better world. Judy Justice Ginsburg, what did that time feel like for you . You are teaching you are teaching. Istice ginsburg 1963 until got my first good job in d. C. Judy what did that period feel like to you . You were involved in womens rights issues and civil rights cases from the beginning. Justice ginsburg how did it feel to meet . Exhilarating and exhausting. Me most were the people who cam