About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

3 Perspectives 1 (1993-1994)

handle is hein.journals/prspctiv3 and id is 1 raw text is: VOL. 3, No. t FALL T993 Justice Ginsburg: C//f t07/mi ,eyp 6 7ow'ute4.'ce '. Q~atohte, O9dl, r a a'tte to ,../fot~e, Professor Jane Ginsburg, professor of law at Columbia Law School, had the opportunity to pay tribute to her mother, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, at the Harvard Celebration 40 reunion, celebrating forty years of women at Harvard Law School, on October 2, 1993. Professor Ginsburg gave us permission to reprint her remarks. his occasion marks the first mother-daughter team to have attended Harvard Law School. I gather, moreover, that there have since been three more mother-daughter teams .... That is greater cause for celebration. But the real celebration will come when so many mothers and daughters have attended - and graduated - Harvard Law School that no one keeps count anymore. It is nonetheless a grand occasion to give this award to my mother, since I have spent most of my life receiving gifts from her. Not simply material goods, but especially intellectual and character values, such as tenacity, per- spective and compassion. Among the many lessons she imparted - and one I try to pass on to my students - was the counsel to keep sight of the individuals whose plight gives rise to the question of principle. My mother exemplifies to me all that is best in the legal profession: scrupulous yet pragmatic attention to form and craft - she is, after all, a civil procedure expert; passion for improvement of the law; and sensitivity to the individu- als whose claims she has advanced, or whose cases were argued before her. My mother's family, her colleagues, students and former clients have long appreciated these qualities. This summer, much of the rest of the country... has perceived them too. This August, in New York, I accompanied my mother and father to the opera. Along the short walk from their hotel to Lincoln Center, one passer-by after another stopped my mother to offer congratulations and admiration. After a while, my father expressed jocular dismay: we'd gone almost a whole block without en- countering a well-wisher! Just then, a man approached us: wasn't she Ruth Bader Ginsburg, he inquired. He just wanted her to know that he'd almost gone to James Madison High School, where he would have been her classmate, and now truly regrets his decision long ago... It is a pleasure to bask in so much reflected glory and to read the Celebration 40 award citation. AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her daughter, Professor Jane Ginsburg The citation reads: Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, pioneer in the pursuit of legal rights for women aaid the eliminalion of gender discrimination, committed to family, civil liberties and the rigorous application of the rules of equality; your life In the law Is marked by intellectual Integrity, judicial wisdom, and compassionate concern for the public Interest, serving as a model for generations of Harvard Law Students. Supreme Court Rules on Harris, 9-0- Sets Sexual Harassment Standard By Stephanie B. Goldberg The U.S. Supreme Court reached a speedy conclu- sion November 9, 1993, on the only sexual harass- ment case on its docket, Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc. (No. 92-1168). In a unanimous opinion by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the Court held that a psychological injury was not required for proof of sexual harassment. It reaffirms the standard set down in the 1986 case of Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson - that sexual ha- rassment must be suffi- ciently hostile or abusive to violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - but underscored the COMMI SISON 0 need for an objective de- termination of what con- stitutes a hostile environ- ment. The factors to be con- sidered in determining ha- rassment are: the frequency of the conduct, its severity, whether it is physically threatening or humiliating or merely offensive, and whether it unreasonably interferes with an em- ployce's work perfor- mance. The opinion stressed that this is not an exclusive list and stated that while psychological harm, like any other rel- evant factor, may be taken into account, no single fac- tor is required. Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote separate concur- rences that criticized the test formulated by the court. The critical issue... is whether members of one sex are exposed to disad- vantageous terms or con- ditions of employment to which members of the othersex are notexposed, Ginsburg wrote. The adjudicator's inquiry should center.. .on whe- ther the discriminatory conduct has unreasonably interfered with the plain- tiff's work performance. Justice Scalia warned that the majority opinion was dangerously vague and might inspire more expansive vistas of liti- gation.... Today's opin- ion does list a number of Contjnti'd op paige 7 N WOMEN IN THE PROFESSION

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most