The theme of our GE book club for 2020 is the wonderful Supremes. No, not Diana, Cindy and Mary - Sandra, Ruth, Sonia and Elena. After our great discussion of Michelle Obama's book last fall, we asked whether we should try something less challenging this year, but the verdict was unanimous, that we should continue to learn about exceptional women. So Julie and I kicked a few ideas around and decided that our female Supreme Court justices certainly fit the 'exceptional women' bill - after all, there have been only four in about 230 years, and three of them are still on the court!
There is not, however. one book about all four so, we invite everyone to choose at least one book, article or even podcast about one or more of these women. Then we will discuss each woman and compare and contrast their careers, educations, backgrounds and legal philosophies! Julie and I are very excited about this. We have prepared a reading list to start you off. By the way, we are including some books for children and young adults so that you can bring this back to your troops if that's your thing.
Reading List
First: Sandra Day
O’Connor – Evan Thomas
The Majesty of the Law: Reflections of a Supreme Court Justice, by
Sandra Day O’Connor, Craig Joyce
Lazy B: Growing Up
in a Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest, by Sandra Day O’Connor, H,
Alan Day
Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader
Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World, by Linda R.
Hirshman
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life by Jane Sherron De Hart
Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
by Irin Carmon, et. al.
My Beloved World, by Sonia Sotomayor
Elena Kagan: A
Biography, by Meg Greene
I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark, by
Debbie Levy
Who Is Sonia Sotomayor? by Megan Stine
New Yorker Magazine article:
Is the Supreme Court’s Fate in Elena Kagan’s Hands?
Podcast: The Citizen’s
Guide to the Supreme Court (available from I Heart Radio or wherever you get
your podcasts. Never let it be said that
the Great Escapers are set in their ways.)
