Three Women on the Supreme Court?

There are lots of people who say its about time the United States could claim three sitting women justices on the Supreme Court. Like it or not the die seems to be cast and the future of the Supreme Court seems likely to include Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonya Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.all donning black robes and sitting on the same bench at the same time How will this balance be received by the citizenry of the United States remains to be seen but it could turn out to be a good deal for Americans

On Sept. 25, 1981, following her nomination to the bench by President Ronald Regan, Sandra Day O'Connor became the first woman to serve her nation as a Supreme Court Justice and a gigantic barrier to equal participation in government was officially hauled down. Historically it could have played out that this experiment in inclusiveness was exactly that an experiment. The appointment of of Elena Kagan will certainly seem to shut the door on nay sayers for good.

Three women on the court is no longer an experiment or a polite nod to the abilities of women. It is rather a clear statement that the issue of gender in Supreme Court appointments is officially dead. The appointment of a third women sounds the final death knell to the old boys club that once controlled the legal decision process in our nation. If, as the saying goes, a clean broom does indeed sweep clean, having three women on the high court at the same time could provide a fresh direction for the nine member panel.

One could say that having three women on the bench provides women with a solid voting bloc which could play a huge role in tight votes. Of course such a position requires one to realize that for nearly the first 200 years of our history there was a solid block of all male justices and that even today there are 6 men versus 3 women. Does anyone really think the court will divide in such a way on any decision? The election of three women forces even those who hold anti-women feelings to acknowledge that there is no more likelihood that all the women will vote together because they are women than that all the men will vote together because they are men. In short the appointment of three women to the Supreme Court should help to shed light on the fact that women, like men, are free thinkers and arrive at their opinions by individual reasoning and deserve respect equal to their male counterparts

The selection of three women to fill positions on the Supreme Court is also a boon to men, especially the men on the court. They no longer have to harbor even the slightest thought that words exchanged during argumentation or discussion of cases will be seen as sexist. The six men may actually feel more liberated, if only subconsciously , to speak to the three women as they do one another without wondering whether or not their words or actions would be perceived as piling on or ganging up on one or even two women justices. If there was a need for greater civility between the genders on the court adding a third woman justice may just fill the bill.

Finally the selection of a third woman justice to our Supreme Court can send a positive signal to all Americans and all of America's critics. Americans may well benefit from a court that is now more gender balanced than ever before in our history because women will bring their own unique take on society and jurisprudence to cases that reach the high court. Any one of the three may individually have the ability to shine an entirely new light on some exceptionally old issues simply because she has grown up looking at this nation from a totally different perspective. The results of that different approach could be considerable.

Internationally, those who have long mocked the U. S. for talking about equality and yet continuing to elevate men to positions of national prominence with far more regularity than women, may have been somewhat muted. It would appear that at last the country has stepped up and delivered on its promises in a very visible and convincing way.

Giving three highly intelligent and well schooled women a chance to serve can only have positive repercussions.

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